Kishin May Cry
by fallenstar2013
Summary: A mysterious group has arrived at Death City, and two legendary Meisters collide! Set after the Soul Eater manga's end, the main cast encounter a person they never expected... and his walking armory! Warning: this crossover includes big egos, two talking heads, a lotta characters and weapons, and an angry pooch! Soul Eater (c) Atsushi Ookubo / Devil May Cry (c) Capcom
1. The Crowd at Deathbuck's

"Where's that coffee Table 1 ordered five minutes ago?"

"Comin' right up, sir!"

A girl with black hair tied into two pigtails staggered nervously while holding a steaming cup all the way to a table where a couple was sitting together, chatting happily. As soon as the coffee was delivered to the customer, who politely thanked the maid for her service, the girl quickly and confidently walked back behind the counter and went to talk to the café's owner.

"Seems like you're finally getting some confidence with that coffee, eh?" said the man with a fatherly smile at his employee.

"Yes, Master," replied the girl happily, "though I'm still a little nervous about spilling it…"

"That's the least of your worries once you can walk normally with it," answered the man, who was looking at another of his employees, who had long blond hair tied into a ponytail and was quickly scribbling her customer's orders into her notepad.

"Well, Anya seems to be better at this than me…" said the girl with a slight tone of admiration toward her coworker. The door opened up and hit a bell that was attached, signaling someone had arrived to Deathbucks Café. The girl, who was named Tsugumi, quickly dismissed herself from her boss by saying "I'll take this one!" and walked to the customer, reciting in a happy tone, "Welcome to Deathbucks Café! Table for how many?"

"Umm," the customer looked behind him and smiled nervously, making Tsugumi take a peek as well. Her jaw dropped.

"I-I'll get a friend to help me put a few tables together…" said the little girl.

"Yeah, that'd be nice," replied the newcomer with a wry grin.

The black-haired girl quickly ran to her boss and said, "Master, I think we need help with this one…"

Master looked at the girl and then at the entrance, which was slowly filling up with the new customer's company. "Oh, my Death…"

Back at Table 1, the sandy-haired girl looked up from her coffee and behind her partner and noticed the troupe that had entered the café and motioned her companion to do the same.

"Well, whaddaya know," said the girl's companion, whose red eyes widened when he saw the crowd. "Looks like the circus finally arrived."

"That's not funny, Soul," said the girl, who quickly adjusted her pigtails to make herself look better, which did not go unnoticed by her white-haired date.

"What, are you trying to impress the guy with the fur coat, the one with the trench coat, or the one with glasses?" asked Soul jokingly while he wiped a drop of drool that was escaping his mouth.

"None," lied the girl with a blush in her cheeks. She then stood up and quickly asked one of the maids to bring her the bill. "By the way, you're paying today."

"I know, Maka," answered the white-haired boy while rolling his red eyes. "We should hurry, though; Kid wanted you to give that lesson in literature with Marie today."

"WHAT?!" the girl named Maka let her jaw fall in surprise. "Why didn't you say so? We gotta go now!"

"I know," chuckled the boy, whose shark teeth glistened in the afternoon light that entered through the café's window, while he paid for the snack. The pair quickly walked out of Deathbuck's after helping some of the maids move some tables to accommodate the group and telling them to enjoy their meal. As soon as they exited, Maka looked at the nearest lamppost casually and noticed the figure of a sleeping dog and pointed it out to her partner.

"That's cute, Maka," replied the boy without even throwing the dog a glance. "Now let's go!"

"R-right!"

Neither of them noticed the light-blue dog had raised a head to look at them flee… and two more that looked at the troupe in Deathbuck's, which was happily chatting while awaiting their meal.

While the pair ran up the stairs that led to Death City's biggest landmark, DWMA, Soul decided to chat his partner up.

"So have you found any good mission yet?" he asked.

"Nope," replied the girl. "Black Star took the last one three days ago, and Ox and Kilik were gonna cooperate for another mission I had my eye on…"

"When's he returning?" asked the white-haired boy.

"I dunno… I hope it's soon…"

"What, are you worried about him?" teased the young man.

"Of course I'm worried, he's my friend!" replied the girl, offended. "Honestly, I'd expect you to be worried, too!"

"Nah," said Soul with a confident grin, "I know the Star-man can pull anything off now. I don't doubt him!"

"Aww, that's adorable," teased the girl in revenge.

"Shaddup," chuckled the boy.

The two finally finished going up the massive staircase and stopped for a second to catch their breath. Soul decided to keep talking.

"So which one were you staring at?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" replied Maka, slightly confused.

"Personally, I'd say you go for the one with the fur coat and the eye-patch," continued the red-eyed boy. "He looks WAY more normal than Glasses, Mohawk and Trench…"

"MAKA CHOP!"

Maka's green eyes flared in irritation, and her hand grabbed a book from out of nowhere and slammed it into her partner's face, sending poor Soul flying all the way down the stairs. Still feeling irked, the girl resumed her walk into the enormous skull-themed academy known as Shibusen. Inside, a young woman with long dirty-blond hair greeted her with a Coke in her hand.

"Hey, Maka," said she.

"Hey, Liz," replied the young Meister happily. "Where's Kid? I need to talk to him."

"He's in the old office as usual," answered Liz while rolling her dark blue eyes. "Seems he's trying to make the guillotines perfectly symmetrical again…"

"Thanks!" said Maka while starting to jog all the way to the Principal's office in the heart of DWMA. After about five minutes she finally reached her destination and knocked on the door.

"Come in," said a monotone voice while a tall man with dark grey hair and stitches on his face opened the door. When the man saw the visitor, his face warped into what was supposed to be a welcoming gesture but simply looked creepy due to the glare from the man's glasses. "Oh, hello Maka."

"Hey, Doctor Stein," replied the girl while a chill ran down her spine at the sight of the man's expression. "Is Kid in there?"

"Crying, as usual…" replied Franken Stein with an exasperated expression and a small shrug. "I guess you could help him…"

"I'll see what I can do…"

Stein led Maka to the Death Room, which was lined with tall guillotines that formed a hallway towards the center, where a raised circular platform with a giant mirror and a protesting young man were visible.

"I'm trash…" said Death the Kid with a cracked voice. "I'm worthless, disgusting trash… I bet my father would've done a much better job than I'm doing now…"

"Uhh… Kid?" said Maka apprehensively as she approached her friend. "You okay?"

"I heard a rumor that a powerful Meister was coming all the way here today, and I wanted to greet him fashionably in the office… but I can't even decorate it decently!" cried Kid while shaking his white-striped black hair.

"Awww, you don't have to decorate the place for me, Kiddo!" said another young man's voice behind the pair.

Maka turned to see her childhood friend Black Star smiling widely while holding his weapon partner's hand. The girl, who was blushing madly, waved shyly at her best friend.

"Black Star! Tsubaki! You're finally back!" greeted the sandy-haired girl happily at the sight of the blue-haired young man and the black-haired young woman. "What took you so long?"

"Ah, Tsubaki wanted to go to the amusement park and have fun with the Tower of Terror," said Black Star, whose tenor voice resounded loud and proud in the Death Room. "Still, we cleared the Purple Dragon gang completely! They won't be bothering us again! Am I right, Tsubaki?"

"Y-yes," said Tsubaki shyly. "By the way, what was that about a powerful Meister, Kid?"

"He was obviously talking about me," said the hot-head with a laugh. "There's no one more powerful than Stein and Me (with a capital M, 'cause I'm that awesome), and Stein's here, so that leaves me!" he said this while counting with his fingers quickly to make sure he didn't lose himself in his speech.

"Since when have you been acknowledging Stein…?" wondered Maka while a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead.

"Since I've been training him," replied the mad scientist while screwing the bolt in his head noisily. "I must admit, though, I never expected you to say that in front of your friends…"

"That's because you're the second strongest Meister to have graduated from here, besides me!" said Black Star while giving his mentor a thumbs-up.

"You really don't know who's graduated from here…" muttered Stein.

"A-anyways, Kid," Maka turned to the young Shinigami. "AT WHAT TIME IS MY LIT CLASS WITH MARIE?!"

"Oh, that?" said the golden-eyed boy. "In about half an hour, so go prepare!"

"R-right!" said the sandy-haired Meister while she ran out of the Death Room.

* * *

"Someone shut the kids up…" muttered the dark-skinned girl, annoyed. She and her light-skinned sister were sitting on a bench in front of Deathbuck's Café with the rest of their group, and two young boys that were part of it were talking the girls' ears off.

"Seriously, boys… SHUT UP!" roared a tall, powerfully-built man that was accompanying them, and the two boys immediately piped down at the sight of the man's glare.

"Thanks, Revenant…" said the light-skinned sister while rubbing her temple.

"No problem, Ivory," muttered the man named Revenant while lighting up a cigar, and one of the boys looked offended.

"Mister Revenant!" said the indignant boy while shaking his red dreadlocks. "If you need a fire, I could've provided it for you!"

"And I would've blown it off," interrupted the other boy while stroking his cyan hair. "Seriously, Agni, it's too hot for you to set anything on fire today…"

"Shut up, Rudra!" shouted the boy named Agni, and the pair would've started arguing again if another of the men hadn't intervened.

"Kids, don't start…" warned the man while adjusting his glasses. "You don't wanna get the Yamato Treatment, do you?"

"N-no, Mister Rebellion!" answered the twins in perfect unison.

"Good," said the man while looking at Shibusen in the distance. "I hope the boss hurries up…"

"Since when have you called him 'the boss'?" asked Revenant, curious.

"Goddammit," cursed Rebellion. "Friggin' Beowulf got me used to it…"

"S-sorry…" apologized the man named Beowulf, who was holding his fur coat in his left arm while moving his eye-patch a little to prevent it from sticking to his sweaty face.

"You do realize that's gross, right…?" commented Ivory with a disgusted face.

"Umm… the boss took the pooch and left to the academy…" muttered Beowulf before he and the rest of the troupe started towards the DWMA.

* * *

**That's it for our first chapter~! we kinda were planning to do the old "no author comments until the end of the series" routine, but I thought that was kinda stupid so here I am~! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the cover (which Klaus did all by himself, I might add) umm... I think I'll leave it at that for now~~**

**So! Who was Kid talking about as the "Powerful Meister"? What were Black Star and Tsubaki really doing in that mission? (just kidding on that one XDDDDD) and how many people do you think are in the troupe?! find out the answers in the next chapter of ****_Kishin May Cry_****! (and please don't kill us for our choice of title!)**

**_~Humbert_**

**Also, any questions/suggestions/critiques (whether "constructive" or not) are welcome!**


	2. Into the Academy

A young-looking man who was actually in his late thirties was standing in front of a massive staircase with a nostalgic look on his face and a light blue three-headed Siberian husky panting happily next to him.

"The old Death Weapon/Meister Academy…" commented the man while shaking off a few strands of his silver hair from his eyes. "Man, this brings us memories… So, you ready to go, pooch?" The dog's three heads barked indignantly and the man laughed, "I'm sorry, CERBERUS."

"Dante, wait up!" shouted a woman behind the pair, who was running with a group to catch up to the man.

"Oh, I was wondering where the hell you were," chuckled the man named Dante while he put his gloved hands into the pockets of his red coat. He then looked at one of the men in the party, whose black hair was tied into a short ponytail and his glasses hid his green eyes with the sun's reflection, and asked him, "Reminds you of anything, Rebellion?

"Only of our younger years, Dante," replied Rebellion with a nod and a small smirk.

"What about you, girls?" Dante looked at a pair of young ladies with different shades of blonde hair and different skin colors.

"Old battles," reminisced the one with the lighter skin but darker hair, named Ivory. "You, Ebby?"

"Fun times," remembered the one with darker skin but lighter hair, named Ebony.

Suddenly, the boy with cyan, slicked-back hair named Rudra spoke up.

"Say, is this place really, really big?" he asked.

His brother, who had red and orange dreadlocks and was called Agni, replied before anyone else. "Duh, look at the stairs! And I bet that what we're seeing from here isn't even half of it!"

"I bet it's got a lotta classrooms!" continued Rudra with a dreamy look at the academy while he and the rest of the group started ascending the stairs.

"I hope it's got an awesome dungeon!" added Agni happily. The pair of boys kept increasing the list of their expectations for the academy, ranging from an elegant cafeteria to a creepy hospital wing and everything in between.

A tall, redheaded woman with an unbelievable figure groaned, "Will they ever shut up, Artemis…?"

Artemis, a younger woman with long, dark purple, braided hair and square half-rimmed glasses responded, "Not even when they're asleep, Nevan…"

Nevan's grimace stretched. "Goddammit…"

The enormous man named Revenant heard the women complain and decided to take action. He immediately smacked the boys' heads and told them to quiet down.

"But we're gonna take forever to get there at this pace, Mister Revenant," whined Agni while Rudra nodded.

"He does have a point…" commented the eye-patch wearing man named Beowulf to Dante. "May I recommend we speed things up, boss?"

Dante looked back at the group and then back up at the academy. Surely they still had a ways to go and, if they continued at the current pace, the boys would be bored into talking again. He sighed and nodded, and Rebellion clapped his hands.

"Okay, people!" he said with his cool baritone voice. "Let's turn into our weapon forms so Dante can take us all there much faster!"

"All right!" said Ebony and Ivory, while Artemis sighed in relief.

Dante extended his hands and the whole group transformed into his equipment, which he accommodated on himself. Revenant transformed into a sawed-out shotgun that went in a holster on Dante's right leg. Artemis turned into a silver gun that also worked as an arm brace and was accommodated into another holster in Dante's left leg. Even the Cerberus was a weapon, and it was a tripartite nunchaku that went on Dante's right hip, tied down with the belt. Nevan turned into a purple guitar whose strap went over Dante's shoulder and held her to his back. Agni and Rudra morphed into two scimitars with serrated edges; Agni, the orange one, went on his user's coat's right side while Rudra, the cyan one, went on the coat's left side. Beowulf separated into four pieces and, with a gleam of light, went onto Dante's hands and feet as silver-white gloves and greaves. Ebony and Ivory mutated into respectively colored handguns that had assigned holsters at Dante's back. Finally, Rebellion's weapon form was that of a skeleton-themed claymore that had a very special strap reserved only for him on his Meister's back.

The white-haired man's cyan eyes looked back at Shibusen while he stretched his arms and shook them as a warm-up before Beowulf lit up and allowed him to move at a superhuman pace all the way up the stairs in record time. When the stairs had been cleared, Dante looked back at Death City, which looked simply outstanding from that point of view. His weapon partners transformed back into humans (and three-headed dog) and admired the scene with him. Even Agni and Rudra had little more to say than "Ooh," and "Whoa," when faced with the scene. Dante and Rebellion looked at each other and grinned before starting to walk into the academy, immediately followed by the rest of the weapons.

"Hmm…" said Dante while he walked in the school's surprisingly empty hallways. "Must be the Universal Class Period…"

"Still," commented Rebellion, who was also surprised at the emptiness, "you'd think there'd be at least some idiot playing hooky…"

"Or going to the restroom," added Ebony, who was starting to feel nervous with the chilly atmosphere. "Seriously, though, where is everyone?"

"Hey, what's this?" suddenly asked Nevan, who was eyeing an enormous bulletin board.

"Oh, that?" said Dante, who turned around and walked to his redheaded companion. "That's the Mission Board! Students here fulfill these missions in order to collect demon souls—or Kishin Eggs, as they call them here—for their partners to become Death Scythes."

"How many Kishin Eggs do they need to collect for that?" asked Revenant, interested.

"99 Kishin Eggs," answered Ivory happily, "but the REAL challenge lies in collecting a Witch Soul!"

"Witch Soul?" asked Nevan, who suddenly seemed nervous.

"Don't worry, Nevan; it's just a technical term," answered Rebellion, trying to calm the woman down. "Witches here are powerful sorceresses with enormous amounts of power, usually themed after some sort of animal for their abilities, appearances, and personalities. They're considered enemies of Shibusen due to their overly destructive nature, and they reside in their own dimension called the Witches' Realm."

"You seem to know a lot about that, Rebellion," complimented Artemis while winking at the glasses-wearing man.

"I used to read up on our potential enemies before you came along, Artie," answered the claymore with a nonchalant grin that made the purple-haired woman blush slightly.

"Except they're not our enemies anymore," replied a young man behind the troupe, making them all turn around. The youngster was bald save for two pillars on the sides of his head, which looked like backward-facing horns, and was wearing round glasses that made him look as intellectual as he really was.

"Say what?" asked Ebony, who was resisting the urge to laugh at the boy's goofy look.

"Whaddaya mean they're not your enemies anymore?" asked Rudra, curious.

"Did Shibusen kill them all?" asked Agni.

"Did they beat you into their service?" continued Rudra.

"Did they decide never to show up again?" added Agni.

"Enough!" said Revenant and Beowulf as they silenced the boys.

"Sorry about that," apologized Artemis while a drop of sweat rolled down her temple. "But why is it that the Witches are no longer your enemies?"

"Shibusen and the Witches made a Peace Treaty about seven months ago, after the defeat of Kishin Asura," answered the boy. "They proved to be valuable allies against the lesser Kishins during the Battle of the Moon…"

"Seven months ago?" interrupted Dante.

"Y-yeah, why?" asked the near-bald boy, who hadn't noticed the white-haired man in front of him.

"That's about the time we fought that horde of demons with Trish and Lady, isn't it?" commented Revenant to Rebellion lowly, and the latter nodded.

"Nothing, it's just that it's really recent…" replied Dante to cover the shotgun's comment. "Wow… and the Witches were the fun ones, too…"

"Excuse me?" the boy suddenly looked surprised. "You've fought Witches before?"

"Sure, kiddo," chuckled the white-haired man. "But it's been a while since we left this school…"

"Really?"

"What's your name, kid?" asked Beowulf.

"I-it's Ox Ford," replied Ox, who felt intimidated when he noticed the group was much bigger than he'd expected.

"Yeah, well," said Dante, who turned to leave and waved lazily at the boy. "Thanks, kid!"

The group followed Dante while he searched for an open classroom to peep into, and he finally found one in the school's third floor, where a young woman with sand-colored pigtails seemed to be giving a presentation. What caught Dante, Rebellion, and Beowulf's attention, however, was the highly attractive blonde who seemed to be the teacher that was sitting near the board, evaluating the young woman's presentation.

"Marie Mjolnir?" asked Rebellion when he noticed who the blonde was, and he made his way through the group and into the classroom, waving at the woman. "Hey, Marie! Marie!"

"Oh?" said the teacher, who wasn't looking at the approaching man's direction until he was right next to her. "A-ah! I'm sorry, d-do I know you?"

"Of course you do, Marie!" said Rebellion with a friendly smile that attracted the female gaze from the whole classroom. "It's me, Rebellion!"

"R-Rebellion?" Marie suddenly remembered who the man in front of her was, and she stood up slowly and gave him a gentle hug. "W-wow, I can't believe my eyes!"

"Why the softies, Marie?" asked the man jokingly. "You always like to crush people with your hugs..." then he noticed the blonde's pregnant belly. "O-oh."

"Wait," Marie looked at the door and smiled, "if Rebellion's here, then that means…"

"Dante's here too!" said the white-haired man while walking proudly into the classroom after telling the rest of the weapons to stay at the door.

"Dante…?" asked Maka to herself while the newcomers were chatting with her teacher and interrupting her presentation. "Where have I heard that name before…?"

* * *

**Whoa, I can't believe we finished this chapter so soon! It's almost magical! XDDDD anyways, we finally have all of Dante's weapons for this fic properly introduced so you don't have to worry about that anymore~~ Maka seems to know Dante's name from somewhere... but where from? She definitely didn't hear it in the café~~ Also, sorry if you think this chapter came out a little short... but the series is just starting, so the good, meaty stuff is on its way~ (God that sounded so wrong XDDDD)**

**Remember, anything you guys wanna say about the story, feel free to say it~! I won't bite~~**

**...ok, I DO bite, but I can't bite through your computer screens XDDDD**

**_Humbert_**


	3. The Death Room Fills Up?

"So, since when did you start wearing more red?"

"Um, pretty much since we left the school… Since when are you into being a mother?"

"That's a pretty funny story, actually… but tell me about what you've been up to, Dante!"

Dante and Marie were chatting happily in the teachers' room in Shibusen, the former having sent his weapons to explore the academy with Rebellion as their tour guide, and the latter having dismissed the class early due to the unexpected visit. So the white-haired man started telling his old classmate about some of his adventures after he left Shibusen, but nothing about his hunting business and the other times he'd defeated major demons. Marie was eyeing him for a little until she interrupted him.

"You know," she said, "I kinda like your hair better this way."

"Huh?" Dante shook off a few silver strands that were getting in his left eye. "Whaddaya mean?"

"Your hair looks better white," said the blonde while rubbing her belly. "Whoops! Someone's feeling anxious."

"I wonder why," said a monotone voice behind Dante, who immediately stood up in a defensive posture. Franken Stein, who stood a neck and head taller than Dante, smiled and shook his head slowly before saying, "Ah, Dante… It's been awhile…"

"What the hell happened to your head, Frankie?" asked Dante, who couldn't take his eyes off the giant bolt stuck in the scientist's skull. "Did your madness finally catch up to you?"

"What the hell happened to yours, _Danny_?" retorted Stein sourly while screwing the bolt with a sardonic expression. "Black emo-hawk not cool enough for you?"

"That was just a phase, smartass..." muttered the man while scratching the back of his head and sitting back in his chair. "By the way, what're YOU doing here?"

"I give class here," replied the grey-haired man while sitting next to Marie. "Plus I'm married now."

"Y-you—wait, what?!" Dante couldn't believe his eyes. The most unfeeling man on the face of the Earth being hitched and starting a family seemed to him like the kind of thing he could only find in a fan fiction, but there it was: as plain as day, Franken Stein had his hand around a blushing Marie Mjolnir's shoulders. He looked at the blonde and chuckled, "Well, that explains why you didn't wanna tell me who the father was…"

"Would you have believed either of us if we told you?" shrugged the pregnant woman.

"You? Nope," replied the white-haired man with a grin. He then looked at the grey-haired man with the stitches on his face and added, "But Frankie wouldn't ever joke about that…"

"Where's Rebellion? I want to see how he's evolved," commented Stein while he lit up a cigarette.

Marie looked angry at the scientist and slapped the cigarette off, saying, "Stein! You know you're not supposed to smoke anymore! It might affect the baby…"

"Gosh, I forgot," said Stein while rolling his eyes.

"Wow, you already work nicely as a couple…" commented Dante while looking away.

"So where's Rebellion, Dante?" asked Stein once again.

"Oh, he's giving the tour to my other weapons," answered the red-coated man. "Ebony and Ivory are with them as well."

"More weapons, hmm?" muttered Stein while looking at Dante.

"Yup, but it tends to get crowded at night…" commented the hunter with a naughty smirk. "Since I don't have enough money to buy a mansion, my apartment's filled with hammocks… and none of them are free for me…"

"So where do you sleep, Dante?" asked Marie, worried.

"Couch," replied both Stein and Dante at the same time. The hunter looked at the scientist and asked, "How do you know that?"

"I remembered that time you slept over my and Spirit's place back in high school," answered the glasses-wearer with a shrug. "I figured you'd get a habit out of it."

"Speaking of Spirit; how is he?" asked the hunter.

"Oh, he's acting director…" replied Marie, suddenly looking at the floor with sad eyes.

"Acting director? What about Lord Death?" asked Dante, who now seemed worried.

"He…" Marie's uncovered eye filled with tears.

"He passed away," answered Stein, who remained as unfeeling as ever.

"WHAT?!" Dante shouted.

* * *

"Hey, Maka, what are you—"

"Shh!"

Soul Eater rolled his eyes, offended by his meister, but he quieted down and sat next to her while she flipped pages in a frenzy to find something. After about five minutes of annoying silence for Soul, Maka finally shouted "Aha! Got it!"

"Got what?" asked the white-haired youngster.

"'Dante Sparda was one of Shibusen's History's top five meisters. He is tied with his twin brother Vergil for the second spot, while the first is taken by his classmate Franken Stein,'" read Maka out loud for her weapon partner. "I knew I'd heard that name from somewhere!"

"Whaddaya mean?" asked Soul, interested.

"Dante and his weapon partner Rebellion came to class today!" said the pigtailed girl excitedly. "This must be the guy Kid was talking about!"

"Whoa!" Soul looked excited as well. "His weapon came as well?"

"It says here that, when he left school, he had three weapon partners: Rebellion the Claymore, and Ebony and Ivory the guns!" replied the green-eyed girl, looking at the book again. "Guns? Like Liz and Patty?"

"Hopefully they're not as insane as those two," chuckled Soul while looking out the library's window. "Shall we go look for him, then?"

"And this is the library, everyone!" said a girl's voice behind the pair, making them turn around. A girl with dark skin but short, light-blond hair and a white letter E tattooed to her left arm was leading an enormous group of people into the room, and everyone's heads turned to see the crowd that was arriving. A pair of boys suddenly ran for the shelves, and the dark-skinned girl shouted, "Agni! Rudra! Get back here and don't touch anything! Especially you, Agni!"

A boy with red and orange dreadlocks returned a book with a disappointed expression. Maka looked back at the group and recognized Rebellion immediately; that well-built body with black hair tied into a ponytail and green eyes behind round glasses had been burnt into the sandy-haired girl's memory and made her drool unconsciously, which Soul noticed immediately.

"Really, Maka?" Soul said. "And you say I'm perverted…"

"Shaddup, Soul," snapped Maka. "I found Rebellion!" She then walked quickly towards the group, which she remembered had seen a few hours ago in Deathbuck's Café. She plucked up her courage to talk to the claymore when a man stepped in front of her, unintentionally blocking her. "Umm, excuse me, but I'd like to talk to Mr. Rebellion…"

"Revenant, what's this about?" said Rebellion, stepping forward towards Maka.

"This kid wants to talk to you," replied Revenant while scratching his head.

"So? You're not my bodyguard; she can talk to me directly," said the glasses-wearing man while approaching the sandy-haired girl. Maka wasn't exactly short, though 5'4" wasn't exactly the tallest thing around either, but Rebellion was six feet tall and towered over her, making her shy away a little. "Well? What did you wanna talk to me about?"

"Ummm… I…" Maka found herself stammering to the man, who kept looking at her with curiosity. She figured honesty and politeness might win him over. "I wanna t-try to use Soul P-Perception on you guys… i-if you don't mind…"

Suddenly, a bark came from beside Revenant, who was also listening to Maka, and the light blue dog she had seen jumped to her and pinned her down. Revenant and Rebellion immediately tried to move the dog away from Maka, but the dog's three heads simply wanted to catch her scent. Beowulf finally came to assist until the poor girl could finally stand—though she was covered in dog slobber. Revenant apologized for Cerberus' actions and told Maka to first pet it before approaching the rest of the group.

"So this dog has a protective nature…?" muttered Maka to herself while all three heads panted happily at her touch. She immediately activated her Soul Perception ability to look at the dog's soul, and she had a surprise. The dog's soul was that of a weapon! Almost unable to believe it, Maka also noticed the soul had an icy shade of blue, and three little heads came out from the center sphere, meaning that the three heads had a collective mind; she also noticed the usual protective spirit that dogs have, and a stronger sense of loyalty than that of a normal pet.

She then looked at Revenant's soul and saw its power was far above average for a weapon, almost on par with the Witch Eruka's soul in terms of power. Maka was surprised to see all the people in the group that accompanied Dante were weapons—and powerful ones, at that—once she saw all of their souls, and she wondered what kind of Meister could wield so many weapons at once. Soul came behind her and interrupted her examination.

"Are you done yet?" asked the white-haired boy.

"Huh? What?" said Maka, who was broken out of her concentration. "I'm sorry, Soul. Did you want something?"

"Rebellion!" called Marie's voice at the library's entrance. "Dante wants to see you in the Death Room!"

"Death Room?" asked Agni, who was reading a book over another student's shoulder. "You didn't tell us about that other room, Miss Ebby!"

"That's because I didn't expect for us to be called there," muttered Ebony while looking at her sister Ivory worried. "Say, Ivy… Do you think Lord Death will give us a speech for leaving the school before graduating?"

"A lotta people leave before graduating, Ebby," replied Ivory with a smile. "Besides, it's always fun to hear his goofy voice!"

Maka took advantage of the situation and looked at both sisters' souls. Ebony's soul was at the same power level, and thus, the same size as Ivory's, but it was much more outgoing. Ivory's, however, was empathetic but more reserved than her sister, though both were fun-loving and casual, and didn't seem to mind following their carnal desires. Soul took advantage of the situation and looked at both sisters' bodies. Ebony and Ivory were the same height, but Ebony had a smaller bust but wider hips and better-developed buttocks than her more buxom sister. Their taste in clothes was also different. Ebony wore a black, sleeveless denim jacket with a white tank underneath and blue shorts that barely covered her thighs; Ivory wore a white dress with a light-blue corset and a layered white skirt. Soul couldn't decide which of the girls he liked more, and his partner noticed and chopped him in the head.

"OW! What was that for?" said Soul while rubbing his head and watching the group leaving.

"Woman's intuition," replied the girl with a frown.

"That doesn't even make any sense…" muttered the white-haired boy while pouting.

* * *

"…you're the who-the-wha'?"

"I'm the new Shinigami," replied a young man with black hair with three lines that went around his head. "But my friends call me Death the Kid."

"Lord Death had fragmented again about sixteen years ago, quite a while after you left," continued a red-haired man with a dark suit. "By the way, did anyone tell you that you look better with long hair?"

"Yes, Spirit," replied Dante in a slow, somewhat menacing manner. "Can we just ignore the hair?"

"Then how about we talk about your coat?" muttered Kid audibly, and the Demon Hunter looked at him with a creepy stare.

"ARE YOU GONNA JOCK ON MY CAPE, KID?!" he asked with a snarl that intimidated Spirit.

"It's not symmetrical," replied the Shinigami with a snobbish face that deflated quickly when Dante's eyes flared up with anger. "I-I mean, y-you should get a new one… T-the ripped sleeve looks nice, b-but only if the other one is ripped too, or…"

"Hmm, I know," replied Dante, looking at his right sleeve, which was ripped off just below the elbow. It wasn't the only red coat he had, but it was by far the freshest, especially considering he wasn't wearing a shirt underneath due to the heat in Death City. "But it's from the last time I saw my brother since we left school, so it's got kind of a sentimental value…"

* * *

"So what brings you to Death City?" asked Soul while walking next to Revenant, who was smoking his cigar, toward the Death Room.

"We're short on money," replied the man indifferently, "as usual."

"Not to mention the shop got blown up again," added Ebony. "We need a place to stay, and Nevan had seen the old school brochure in Dante's room."

"It's not like I was looking for it, though," added the curvaceous redhead. "The boys were playing hide-and-seek with me, and I was 'It.'"

Meanwhile, Maka was being bombarded with questions from Agni and Rudra, all of which she was trying to answer without losing her patience, lest she caused a bad impression on Rebellion.

"Is there a uniform for the school?" asked Agni.

"Why doesn't everyone use it if there is?" added Rudra.

"There's a choice not to wear it if you don't want to," answered Maka while rolling her eyes backwards, trying to control her temper.

"So we can wear anything we want as our uniform?"

"Can we wear the same thing for the whole week if we wanna?"

"Yikes, Rudra, that's gross!"

"It's not if I wash the clothes that same night, Agni."

"But then your clothes will whiten out, don't you think?"

"Then I'll just fill my closet with the same stuff!"

"But won't that get boring? Just wear different stuff every day!"

"Geez, are they always like that…?" muttered Maka, frustrated.

"Even when they sleep they talk," answered Artemis, who was looking out the windows uninterested.

"How is it that you haven't gone insane?" asked the sandy-haired girl, curious but still annoyed.

"Dante knows how to put them in their place," replied the purple-haired woman. "If I ever saw a man that knows how to have fun but be so strict with those two, it's him." Cerberus barked happily, or at least one of its heads did; Artemis giggled and replied, "Indeed, it IS like he was their father…"

"Wait; you know what it says?" asked Maka while the group finally entered the Death Room.

"More or less," replied the glasses-wearing woman. "We got really used to him, since the pooch was with Dante before most of us—Jesus, Cujo, pipe down! Yes, I know your name is Cerberus!"

"Cujo?" Maka asked, noticing the reference. "As in, Stephen King's _Cujo_?"

"Oh, you've read Stephen King?" asked Artemis.

"He's my favorite horror author!" said Maka happily. "My favorite is _The Shining_!"

"Personally, I like Poe's works better," replied the purple-haired woman with a shrug. "_Masque of the Red Death_ is one of his best, in my opinion."

Both girls kept talking about their horror writers until someone even more frightening came up.

"Is that what I think it is?" said Stein's voice as he flash-stepped in front of Cerberus, a creepy grin appearing on his face. "Such a fascinating specimen… Are all three heads conscious of each other, or do they all act as one being? Their soul has three heads as well… maybe I should check it out myself… I think I have—aha!" He pulled out a large scalpel and was slowly approaching the dog, which started barking in fear and was backing away from the madman.

Suddenly, three hands grabbed Stein's coat and pulled him away from the dog. Marie, Revenant, and Rebellion glared at the scientist disapprovingly, and the blonde said, "Seriously, Stein? They're our guests; you can't go around dissecting our guests!"

"You mean, like the rat that scared the hell out of you three nights ago?" asked Stein in his usual monotone.

"That's different, dummy," snapped Marie. "It was trying to steal from the fridge…"

"Glad to notice you haven't changed a bit, Frankie," commented Rebellion with a smirk. Stein shrugged at him.

Death the Kid was surprised at the quantity of different people that had entered the Death Room and was quite pleased that it was big enough to hold the crowd. Dante smiled at him and said, "In case you're wondering, they're all my weapons."

"All of them?" asked Kid, counting the people that were in the crowd besides Soul, Maka, Marie, and Stein. "How can you carry ten weapons on yourself?"

"That's what all these straps are for!" he said, pointing at the strap that went across his chest to his back and the holsters on his legs and back.

* * *

Black Star was on his way from Shibusen's gym outside the main campus to the Death Room with a disappointed expression, with Tsubaki walking right next to him.

"I'm sure it wasn't intentional," the busty black-haired girl was saying.

"The hell it wasn't! Who the hell forgets the bench-press machine in a gym?!" said the blue-haired boy with a snarl. "Friggin' Kid must've taken it home because its weights are symmetrical…"

"I don't see Kid as the lifting type, though…" muttered Tsubaki before adding, "Wait, wasn't Kid supposed to be attending that guest he was talking about?"

"He already attended me, sweetheart," chuckled Black Star with a flirty tone that made his weapon partner blush madly.

"S-stop it…" said the weapon while playing with her index fingers shyly. "Y-you know very well he wasn't talking about you…"

"I know, Tsubaki," said the Meister while starting to walk into the academy, "but I'm not the only one who uses the bench-press machine, so I should tell Kid anyways."

A pair of girls walked past the pair and giggled when they saw Black Star before continuing on their way, making him and Tsubaki wonder what they were talking about.

"Ah, must be 'cause they saw how cool I am," said the boy, continuing his way to the Death Room.

"That sounds more like something Soul would say," noted Tsubaki, though her partner didn't hear her.

They passed a classroom where two people that sounded like Ox Ford and his partner Har Vard were talking about someone named Dante, and Tsubaki commented on that to her Meister partner.

"Who d'you think this Dante guy is?" she asked.

"I dunno, but if he thinks he's better than me, he's gonna have it coming," replied the Meister while kicking open the door to the Death Room.

* * *

**welp, that's it for today, folks~! it seems that Dante and Black Star are getting closer and closer to finally meeting! but don't worry; the story won't end when that happens! ;3**

**also, to reply to that guest that left a review commenting on how "cluttered" the story felt with all of Dante's weapons: that's the point! he's got so many weapons that even though he's a badass with all of them, he has a bit of a tendency to get overstuffed! hell, in MvC3 (and UMvC3) he had pretty much all of his weapons from DMC3 and he had the most moves out of any character which allowed him to pull some pretty stylish combos (though all of his moves were nerfed compared to the DMC games so he wouldn't be broken xD)~! (hope that cleared it up~)**

**also, we know Revenant is the name of the shotgun in DmC, but I like that name better than Coyote-A so :P**

_**~Humbert**_

**PS. to answer Nightshade umbra's request not to abandon the fic: don't worry, we won't-but college is a bitch so don't expect quick updates! and Klaus is a little busy with drawings even though he's supposed to be in charge of this one so :P**

**PPS. (more like trivia but w/e) though Agni and Rudra look like kids, they're actually pretty old (considering they were demons)! their human appearance was... um... well, that might be spoilers for another chapter so :3c**


	4. First Encounter!

"So what kind of job do you require?"

"Pretty much anything that requires a Two-to-Three-Star Meister. We'll also take some part-time jobs for the weapons so we can gather more money to repair the shop."

"And pay for your temporary apartment, I assume?"

"Of course. But where will it be?"

"KIIIIIIIIIIIDDDD!"

Dante and Death the Kid turned around and noticed the Death Room's sky background was slowly turning stormy as a young man with blue hair approached the Shinigami with an angry expression. The other people that were in the Death Room looked at the newcomer while he stomped his way to Kid. Dante looked at Kid, asking for an explanation, but Black Star shoved him away.

"Kid, did you take the bench-press machine?" he said, his eyes flaring with anger.

"What would make you think—?" Kid said, but was interrupted by the scarf-wearing boy.

"Don't lie to me! You took it because it was symmetrical! You know a lotta people use it in the gym!" he said.

"Sheesh… what a drag," muttered the golden-eyed boy. "Fine, I left it at home…"

"Excuse me!" said Dante, noticeably irritated by the intruder. "Who the hell are you?"

"What's it to you, chump?" replied Black Star sharply, making Maka and Tsubaki, the latter having entered the Death Room right behind her partner, gasp. He then turned to Kid and continued, "Listen, Kid. If you don't like having to enter the gym because it's not symmetrical, then just arrange for it to be so!"

"Oi! I wasn't done!" said Dante, whose blue eyes flared red with swelling rage. He grabbed Black Star by the shoulder and turned him around.

"Do you mind?" said the blue-haired hothead, visibly irked by the interruption. "This is about something more people than just me, care about, and I don't like people with a bigger mouth than mine."

"Well, I can agree with that," smirked Dante while his weapons went to back him up. "Now do you mind? I was talking with Kid about something more important than you for more people than me, kiddo."

Something in Black Star's eyes snapped, and the blue-haired boy shoved the white-haired man off of himself. Rebellion caught his partner before he fell on his ass, and the pair scowled at Black Star, whose scarf started moving as if the wind was hitting it. Stein, Maka, and Kid's eyes widened when they say Black Star's spiky soul swelling up to an incredible size, just like it did whenever he was about to unleash his rage on someone. Maka then looked at Dante's soul to see if he'd be able to stand a chance against the boy and noticed something unbelievable. Unfortunately, Black Star didn't let her try to analyze what Dante's soul was, exactly, for he had grabbed Dante by the coat and thrown him out of the Death Room before following him out with incredible speed. The hunter's weapons all glared at Tsubaki, who was about to apologize for her partner's behavior when the fight broke out.

Maka stepped in front of Tsubaki, ready to defend her friend if necessary, when Liz and Patty entered the Death Room and ran over to Kid.

"You won't believe this, Kid!" said Liz while trying to catch her breath.

"Black Star and that guy we were gonna meet today are fighting outside!" shouted Patty, who looked alarmed. Upon hearing this, Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory, and Cerberus ran at full speed to find their partner. Maka looked at Tsubaki, who gulped and sprinted out of the Death Room.

"That explains why the sky turned stormy in here…" commented Stein while the rest of Dante's weapons left.

* * *

"You got skills, kid!"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

Black Star landed a full punch into Dante's stomach and sent him reeling to near the stairs. The white-haired man stood up just in time to block an incoming kick and push the blue-haired boy backwards to make space.

"Why're you attacking me?" asked Dante.

"You called Me, the GREAT Black Star, a kid! And you said I wasn't important!" roared the irate boy, holding his ground.

"Well, to me, you're not," remarked the man with a smirk, which Black Star returned with a full glare.

Black Star was about to run at Dante, hopefully to tackle him all the way down Shibusen's stairs, but a shot hit him in the ankle and distracted him, allowing the man to kick him aside. When the boy looked up, he saw one of Dante's female partners holding a black gun while Rebellion checked Dante for any serious injury. Suddenly, a hand pulled him up and touched his forehead.

"Tsubaki, what're you—?"

"Why did you pick a fight with this guy, Black Star?" asked the busty, black-haired girl while she glared at him austerely.

"You heard what he said!" said the blue-eyed young man with a snarl.

"I heard what he said," acknowledged the Demon Arm, "but that doesn't authorize you to give him a beating!"

"I don't care! He thinks he's better than me!"

**"**Black Star, please! Think for just once!" pleaded the girl. "This guy is considered the second-best Meister to have ever studied here!"

"I'm better than him," snapped Black Star.

"I don't care! I don't want you to get hurt!"

Black Star stopped glaring at Dante, who was now surrounded by his weapon partners, and looked into his own partner's indigo eyes, which were filling with tears. His expression softened when he saw her, and he sighed to signal his blood was cooling down. Tsubaki sobbed once and held him tightly. Dante looked at the pair with an odd expression, and immediately turned his back to them, walking away. Rebellion quickly caught up with his partner and said, "That was a close one."

"Tell me about it," chuckled the red-coated man. "Though I was kinda itching to fight him…"

"Dante, that's not really nice," intervened Ebony.

"Yeah, we could seriously hurt that kid," chuckled Artemis, and the rest of the group laughed.

* * *

"Are you sure, Maka?"

"I'm positive!"

"How come I couldn't see it?"

"I… I dunno…"

It was much later in the evening, and Soul, Maka, Kid, Liz, Patty, Stein, and Marie were sitting in Stein's office, and Maka was reporting her discovery of Dante's soul: according to her, Dante's soul was partially that of a full-fledged Kishin. Stein and Marie kept quiet the whole time, analyzing the situation at hand. Kid, the Thompson sisters, and Soul were all arguing on whether something should be done about it, but Maka seemed worried about something else.

"Maka," said Marie suddenly, making the rest of the group quiet down, "did you see anything else?"

"W-well…" Maka blushed slightly at the thought of Dante's shirtless body, but it was a distraction from what she had seen.

"Spit it out, Maka," urged Soul, who now looked worried.

"Well… the other side of his soul—the one that wasn't a Kishin Soul, that is—was… an Angel Soul…" muttered Maka.

"Of course," muttered Stein, uninterested.

Kid, however, looked even more intrigued.

"An Angel Soul?" he asked. "You mean a Grigori Soul like yours?"

"Y-yeah," replied the sandy-haired girl. "I never thought I'd see a third person with it…"

"His brother Vergil also has one," added Stein, and everyone looked at him in shock. "That's one of the main reasons why neither of them is a full-fledged Kishin, the other one being that their human mother raised them to resist their demonic half."

"Wait, did you say their mother is human?" asked Liz. "What about their dad?"

"He was a powerful Kishin named Sparda," replied the scientist while cleaning his glasses. "Kid and Maka must've heard of him."

Maka shook her head, denying the statement, but Kid tapped his lips in deep thought.

"My father once mentioned Sparda," he said. "If I remember correctly, I was checking one of Father's lists of most powerful Kishin Eggs, and the name Sparda appeared there, but it was crossed out. Father said that Sparda was an insanely powerful Kishin that had managed to break through the demonic ranks by defeating them all and defending the human race. He had a treaty with Shibusen in which he would not be hunted so long as he keeps defending the humans, but he eventually disappeared.

"Father also mentioned another Kishin, Mundus, who had a sworn enemy in Sparda, but Father never found him, until it was finally reported that someone had vanquished him. That's when I first heard of Dante. Apparently, Sparda had fathered twins with a human woman by the name of Eva, and died shortly thereafter. That's essentially all I know about Dante and his brother Vergil, besides the fact that they're tied for second place as most powerful Meisters."

"Actually, Kid," intervened Stein while cranking the bolt in his head, "they're more powerful than I am."

"What?!" said all the youngsters in a surprised unison.

"Listen to me first," said Stein. "How would Shibusen look if their top-tier Meisters are partially members of the very race they aim to defeat? Forget for a second that they never made Death Weapons, since they went on their own and probably defeated more powerful witches than Arachne and Medusa. Those two, with their massive power, could be considered threats to the whole world if they went rogue…"

"So that's why they're not number one?" asked Soul with a slightly disgusted expression. "Because of some stupid racist thing? As far as Dante goes, he's one of the coolest guys I've ever met!"

"Not to mention he wasn't really looking for a fight with Black Star…" added Maka. "But then again, a lotta people underestimate that moron…"

* * *

"Sheesh, Agni, can't you NOT overcook anything?"

"S-sorry, Miss Nevan…"

Dante and his weapons were sitting in front of their TV in their temporary apartment, and Agni was taking away a burnt-smelling bag of popcorn while Rudra opened a window to let the smell out. Rebellion looked at Dante and noticed he was distracted, so he spoke to him.

"You okay, Dante?" he asked.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm all right," replied the white-haired man.

"You sure? You seem distracted," replied the black-haired man. "Did that kid say anything?"

"Nothing I wouldn't've said at his age," chuckled Dante while taking a sip from his bottle of beer. "He's got a massive ego, I must admit…"

"If it's as big as yours, then I'll bet you two're gonna get along just fine," commented Artemis with a smile.

"You kiddin'? That little bastard's annoying!" replied Dante with an alarmed expression.

"So said Vergil about you, boss," remarked Beowulf with a kind smile, "and look how you two ended up."

"Fighting almost to the death more than thrice?" said Revenant while he grabbed a third bottle of beer and chugged it down. "I don't think Dante wants that with anyone anymore…"

"Hey, the last time Vergil and the boss met, they were a bit kinder to each other," protested the eye-patch wearer.

"He was possessed into trying to kill Dante, Beowulf," reminded Ebony, and Cerberus barked twice. "I agree, Cerberus, we should shut up… the movie's about to start!"

* * *

Tsubaki was still trembling when the clock struck eleven o'clock. That little encounter with Dante made Black Star explode in rage because of one stupid comment that shouldn't have been said, and that rage scared her more than she could have imagined. The busty girl made a mental note to go apologize to Dante for her partner's behavior as soon as she knew where to find him, and she finished brushing her teeth after noticing she was distracted while looking at herself in the mirror. She walked to her and her partner's bedroom and sat in her bed, looking at her softly-snoring, shirtless, awkwardly-positioned partner sleeping in the other bed and she couldn't help but smile at him. After so much they'd been through, Black Star still reacted as harshly at someone calling him small now as he did the first time they met the samurai Mifune.

Maybe some things about him wouldn't change as much as others, but that was all right with Tsubaki. She knew he'd learn better someday, and she eagerly awaited for that day to come; in the meantime, however, she'd have to support and help her partner the same way he's supported and helped her. Tsubaki sighed lowly and stood up. With some effort, she moved the dumbbells away from Black Star's bed so she could move her bed next to his—and she set her alarm to wake her up early so she could accommodate her bed back to its place.

* * *

**so there you have it~! Black Star and Dante finally met! :DDD but it went worse than I expected... those morons XDDDD so yea, Dante is gonna be taking jobs too?! and Agni and Rudra are gonna have part-times?! I gotta baaaaad feeling about this... :3**

**but that's it for today, folks~! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, which was slightly shorter than I'd expected.. :P what the hell, we can make the next few chapters longer, depending on what those kids do (you can never really tell these days what would happen with characters in your OWN work of fiction, huh?)**

**what will happen in the next chapter?! I dunno yet, I gotta ask Klaus XDDDDD still, leave your opinions on this or any other chapter as they keep coming~! see ya (or read ya) later~!**

**_Humbert_**


	5. Mornings and Missions

Tsubaki wasn't sure about whether she was having a nightmare or the best dream in her life. When she woke up, she noticed that it was three hours later than her alarm was supposed to sound off at. When she looked around herself in a frenzy she saw her bed was still attached to Black Star's, and the blue-haired young man was nowhere to be seen, making the black-haired young woman jump out of bed and run to the apartment's kitchen, knowing her Meister partner always woke up with an empty, roaring stomach. When the Demon Arm reached her destination, however, she found a plate of pancakes, hash browns, and a bacon-and-cheese omelet waiting for her with a steaming mug of chocolate and a letter beside the plate. It read in Black Star's slightly slanted writing:

_Tsubaki,_

_Happy birthday! I know you like to wake up early and make breakfast for the both of us while keeping the kitchen all neat and stuff, but since it's not every day My (with a capital M cause I'm that awesome) partner turns 18, I decided to give it a shot by Myself! I turned off your alarm so you could sleep more comfortably while I did My best for your breakfast… so yeah. I also woke up earlier than usual to make sure I could follow that cookbook without making too much of a mess, but if you find anything out of place then I'm sorry… Enjoy your meal and happy birthday! Sorry if this seems a little out of the ordinary…_

_Hugs,_

_The Great Black Star_

_PS. I went to work out at Kilik's if you need anything_

Tsubaki's eyes filled with tears when she finished reading the letter, and she sat down and ate the breakfast her partner prepared for her, and enjoyed the spiciness of the omelet, the sweetness of the pancakes, and the saltiness of the hash browns to the last bite; a giggle escaped her mouth as she imagined her Meister partner wearing an apron and trying his earnest to follow a cookbook to the letter. When she finished, she changed from her nightgown to her everyday clothes, brushed her teeth and tied her long hair into her signature ponytail before she left the apartment after making sure the kitchen was clean—which Black Star did a surprisingly good job at—and went to look for Kid.

* * *

"This is bull—"

"Maka, calm down!"

"I wanted this mission for a long time!"

"I know, but someone got to it first… I bet it was the Star-man."

"He knew very damn well I wanted it! Oh, when he gets back, I'm gonna kill him!"

Maka kept ranting at the mission board, where a particular mission set in Japan about eliminating a demonic woman who appeared in the forests in springtime to kill any innocent girl that wanders off, while Soul wondered why on Earth his best friend would take a mission they had agreed to let Maka take. He looked at the hallway and noticed Tsubaki was walking towards them with a delighted expression, which struck as odd to the white-haired boy.

"Wait, Tsubaki?" greeted Soul with a confused look. "What're you doing here?"

"Um, I study here, Soul," giggled the black-haired girl. She then looked at Maka and asked her, "Is everything all right, Maka?"

"No, cause stupid Black Star took MY mission!" answered the pigtailed girl without thinking. "We had agreed that I would have it! ME! Not him!"

"What're you talking about?" asked the bustier of the girls. "Black Star's at Kilik's house, Maka. We'd never take that mission!"

"Wait, what?" Maka's face almost deflated like a balloon. "Then who the hell took it?"

* * *

"YAHOO! EAT MY BLADE!"

A certain red-coated man ran his claymore sword through the possessed tree that was attacking him and sliced it in half before quickly pulling out a pair of guns and shooting at the woman that was being protected by the trees. The woman fell to the ground with the bullets' impacts and the man dashed at her with incredible speed and pierced her chest with the claymore, immediately defeating her. When the demonic woman's body disappeared, a Kishin Egg that was her soul emerged and was immediately absorbed by the claymore, which had now turned into a tall, well-built man with black hair and green eyes.

"Killer takes the soul," said Rebellion while the rest of Dante's weapons that had accompanied the man transformed. Ebony, Ivory, Beowulf, and Cerberus looked sorely disappointed.

"I knew we should've sent heavier bullets," muttered Ivory with a pout. "Rebellion's Stinger is almost a certain kill!"

"We weren't gonna make it either way, Ivy," replied Ebony with a similar expression.

"All right, kids," called Dante to the weapons. "It's time to go and collect our pay!"

Cerberus barked happily and Beowulf replied to it. "No, Cerberus; we'll have steak when we have more money." The eye-patch wearing man turned to the white-haired one and said, "Boss, I think we should've taken another job while we had the chance; this one was a cakewalk."

"Of course it was," replied Dante with a grin. "This is meant for kids! This money's like candy from a baby!"

"I don't think that blue-haired guy was as much a baby as the rest, though," commented Rebellion while he adjusted his glasses. "He looked like he could put up a good fight…"

"Hey, I was holding back," said Dante with a serious voice. "Besides, I think that we could teach the kids a few things while we're there. They have so much potential…"

"Potential?" asked Ivory while raising an eyebrow. "I never expected you to find potential in kids…"

"Well, they're pretty much the 'World's Police,'" answered the red-coated man with a grin. "They should be able to take on much more than these wusses and their witches with capital B's."

"Good point," commented Beowulf. "If a demon like Mundus appears, and we're not available until much later, we gotta make sure they can at least hold it until we arrive."

"Exactly," acknowledged Dante with a nod. "That's why I feel like teaching for a while now…"

"But you lack patience for teaching…" muttered Ebony with a smirk.

"Hey, watch it!" snapped Dante.

* * *

"That bastard…" muttered Maka Albarn when Death the Kid told her about the Demon Hunter's whereabouts. "Didn't you tell him it was reserved?"

"That wasn't me; that was your dad who gave him the green light," answered Kid with an apologetic gesture. "You can still take on the London Vampires mission, though…"

"That one's too cheesy!" complained the green-eyed girl while shaking her arms up and down. "I wanted a good one with an amazing view! Think of the sakura trees in the Japanese forests right now! Darn, I wanted to be there so bad…"

"I know, Maka," said Soul supportively. "Still, we have another thing to worry about."

"What's that?" asked Kid while Maka opened her eyes wide in shock.

"That's right! Today's Tsubaki's birthday!" said the pigtailed girl with a snap from her fingers.

"Exactly," replied Soul with a nod. "We need to go buy her a cake; Black Star should know her favorite flavor, so we should ask him."

"Where is he, then?" asked Kid while he put his hands together pensively.

"Tsubaki said he's working out at Kilik's," answered Maka, remembering what the busty girl had said, "so we should check there first."

"Great! Let's go, then," said Soul with his shark teeth emerging in his grin. The trio ran from the Death Room and bumped into Patty, who was about to walk in.

"Hello, Patty!" greeted the pigtailed girl happily. "We're gonna get Black Star so we can buy a cake for Tsubaki's birthday!"

"Oh, that's today?" asked the busty blonde with a funny grin. "Then lemme tell Liz so we can meet up in the bakery! I hope we can buy a giraffe-shaped cake!"

"I don't think she likes giraffes much, though," commented Kid.

"I know; I was kiddin'."

* * *

"Carrot cake…?" asked Maka with an odd expression. About an hour had passed, and Black Star had told his friends about Tsubaki's cake preferences.

"Yeah, she started liking it since you guys bought it for my birthday," said Black Star with a smile. The rest of the group looked at each other with awkward expressions and a drop of sweat on each's head.

"How can you tell, Star-man?" asked Soul. "I mean, your birthday isn't the best reference to say anyone likes cake…"

"She ate the carrot cake Marie-sensei made for the Easter party," replied the blue-haired young man. "But still, Soul; food fight aside, the party was pretty good! It's gotta be, since it was my birthday!"

"Food fight aside, the party was boring," remarked Patty, who wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. She noticed one of the employees was staring at the group with curiosity. "Oi," called the blonde at the man, "you lost something here?"

"What is it, Patty?" asked Liz, who looked at the employee and recognized his Mohawk immediately. "Hey, aren't you one of the guys that came with that white-haired hunk?"

Revenant smirked at the dirty-blonde's description of Dante and replied, "Yeah, Dante's my Meister. Still, if you're here to order a cake, you better hurry it up; you're holding the line."

"Drat," muttered Kid when he noticed the line went all the way out of the store. "Black Star, you better order that cake soon…"

"I just did, moron," replied the blue-haired hothead with a cheeky smirk. He then looked at Revenant, who was sweeping the floor of the bakery, and he suddenly looked more serious than usual.

Soul and Kid noticed the boy's behavior and approached him together. Soul placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder and asked him if he was all right, to which Black Star dismissed the group and promised he'd catch up later.

* * *

Dante was whistling a tune while he and his weapon partners were aboard the plane that would transport them back to Death City, and his phone started to ring. He immediately picked it up and was surprised to hear Artemis on the other end of the call.

"Hey, Dante," greeted the purple-haired young woman.

"This is a surprise," replied the white-haired man.

"Sorry I had to interrupt your travel," said Artemis while she adjusted her glasses. "I have a chick here that wants to talk to you…"

"Do I have to…?" asked Dante, rolling his eyes lazily.

"Well, I'll just pass the phone to her," said the weapon while the sound of a phone passing from one hand to another was heard in Dante's phone.

Another girl was on the other end now, and she said, "H-hello? Mister Dante?"

"Who is this?" replied the red-coated man, uninterested.

"M-my name's Tsubaki," said the busty black-haired girl shyly. "I'm Black Star's weapon partner…"

"Black Star?" asked Dante.

"Y-yes… the boy who fought you yesterday…"

"Oh, him," said the man as an image of the boy's spiky blue hair appeared in his mind. "What happened?"

"I… I wanted to apologize for his behavior yesterday…" said the girl nervously. "Black Star is… a little hard-headed, and he doesn't usually think before act—"

"Hold on a minute, kid," interrupted Dante, who was receiving another call. "Revenant? Why're _you_ calling me, too?"

"Yeah, shaddup, Dante," replied Black Star's voice in a slightly irritated tone. "I was talking to Mohawk here about yesterday and he said I should talk to you…"

"Is this about yesterday?" asked the white-haired man, surprised.

"More or less," replied the boy. "First I wanted to ask if your soul really was half-Angel…"

"You mean and Anti-Demon Grigori Soul?" corrected Dante. "Yeah, it is; Stein must've mentioned it to you, huh?"

"Well, Maka did," answered Black Star. "She wouldn't shut up about how 'awesome' it was that you had a half-Kishin, half-Grigori soul and that you could keep your Kishin half in check or whatever…"

"Is that what you were gonna talk about?"

"S-shut up! I was gonna say I'm sorry for yesterday!"

* * *

**Phew~! that took a while~! Anyways, it seems that the Star-man is... apologizing?! (didn't see THAT one coming) and it's a certain camellia's birthday, which will continue in the next chapter~~ oh, and I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit disorganized, but sometimes, that's how it goes... (that sounds a bit asshole-y of me, huh...) still, I promise we'll clear up the mess in the next chapter! don't stop reading just cause I screwed up a bit! Q^Q**

**_Humbert_**


	6. Birthday Bash!

"Happy birthday, Tsubaki!"

"A-ah, thanks!"

Maka, Liz and Patty rushed to hug their black-haired friend while Soul and Kid watched from a few feet away, but the former seemed preoccupied with something else. Kid looked at his red-eyed friend and asked, "Is everything all right, Soul?"

"I don't see Black Star anywhere," muttered Soul, looking around.

"He's probably looking for the cake, Soul," replied Kid, shrugging. "We did order a big one."

"Black Star did, not me," replied the white-haired boy with a chuckle. "Still, you'd think he wouldn't take his time for his own partner's birthday, don't you think?"

"He did arrive two hours late for yours, and you're his best friend," commented the young Shinigami.

"Yeah, but he arrived with…" he looked at the girls that were giggling while chatting with each other and his pupils dilated to become dots.

"What?" asked Kid, who didn't understand what Soul meant.

* * *

"I didn't ask you to tag along."

"If there's a party and food, you bet I'm going!"

"Didn't I tell you to piss off a few times already?"

"Watch the language, boy."

Black Star scowled while carrying an enormous box towards Kid's mansion, but he wasn't alone. Dante and his crew were walking right behind him, and the white-haired man had a gluttonous expression in his face. Black Star wasn't too pleased with the situation, however.

"Tsubaki won't wanna see you," he bluffed, trying to make the group leave.

"We wanna know your crew better," said Rebellion while adjusting his glasses. "This is a good chance to make friends!"

"And to eat," chuckled Artemis after Cerberus barked twice. "Let's hope there's some good meat for the pooch."

"Goddammit…" said Black Star with a grimace.

The Shinigami Manor appeared before their eyes, and the gates opened by themselves, allowing the group to enter. Black Star wondered if Dante had an ulterior motive for crashing the party, but they all seemed as illogical as they sounded ridiculous, so he dismissed the thought. Dante whistled lowly when he saw the mansion up close. Kid obviously made the manor look symmetrical, but had done a marvelous job at it, for the mansion looked like it belonged to a God of Death. Black Star kicked on the door instead of knocking because his hands were full, and Liz answered the door.

"Hey, Black Star," she greeted happily before noticing the crowd behind him. "I see you brought guests."

"I didn't—" the blue-haired young man began to protest, but the cyan-haired boy named Rudra interrupted him.

"Yes, ma'am," he said. "We are honored to be received in your household."

"We'll be gracious guests," added Agni with a smile.

"We won't cause any trouble," promised Rudra.

"We'll only eat the food when we're allowed to," vowed Agni.

"We also brought a gift," said Rudra, pulling out a small, thin box.

"HEY! THAT'S MINE, LITTLE BASTARD!" shouted Black Star, kicking the cyan-haired boy in the stomach.

"Oi, leave my brother alone!" shouted Agni, who set his hand on fire and was ready to attack, but Nevan stepped in front of him.

"That's enough, you two," said she while putting her hands on her hips. "And Rudra, give the gift box back. We don't want a fight in front of the birthday girl."

"Oh, I'm not the birthday girl," said Liz while a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead. "But come in; we don't wanna spoil the cake outside…"

With that said, she let the whole troupe in, and told Black Star where to place the cake so they could all sing "Happy Birthday" together, which the blue-haired Meister didn't find pleasant at all. He insisted that he hadn't brought Dante and his weapons, but Liz was paying more time to the hunter's physique than her friend. The boy gave up and went to greet Soul and Kid, who were looking at him suspiciously.

"What?" asked the blue-haired Meister when he noticed his friends' looks.

"What took you so long?" asked Soul.

"Since when are you friends with Dante?" added Kid, who noticed the new visitor.

"He's not my friend!" said Black Star, starting to lose his cool. "The asshole just decided to crash the party!"

"Maka doesn't seem to mind, though," muttered the white-haired boy, who was looking at his pigtailed Meister partner interviewing the white-haired man. "I wonder what she's asking him, though…"

Maka was excited to talk personally to Dante, but the white-haired man wasn't that engaged into the conversation.

"So how come you're not tempted into becoming a full-fledged Kishin?" the girl asked.

"Cause I don't feel like it," muttered the man, uninterested. When he saw the girl's slightly disappointed expression, he added, "Besides, I have half an Angel Soul that cancels the Demon Wavelength, so I guess that also neutralizes me…"

"Awesome! I have a Grigori Soul as well!" exclaimed the girl happily. "Does your brother also resist the Madness with his Grigori Soul?"

Dante's eye twitched at the mention of Vergil; Artemis, who was drinking soda in a corner, noticed her Meister's attitude and quickly made her way to assist him. When she was close enough, she called at the sandy-haired girl.

"Hey, King girl!"

"Huh?" Maka turned her head and noticed the purple-haired girl approaching and, unable to recall her name, replied, "Oh, Poe fan!"

"Heh, my name's Artemis," chuckled the older girl while adjusting her glasses and shaking Maka's hand.

"Maka," replied the green-eyed girl with a smile. "What's up?"

"Oh, um," Artemis wasn't prepared to start a conversation, but she quickly improvised. "I was wondering if you read comic books."

"Comic books?" Maka looked uncomfortable. "That's more Soul's domain…"

"Soul?"

"Yeah, Soul Eater; my partner."

"That's a pretty lousy name, if you ask me," commented Artemis lowly.

"Well, he is a weapon…" said Maka with a faltering smile.

"What's his form?"

"He's the last Death Scythe… and a literal one at that."

"Nice job, then!" Artemis was impressed to meet the person who forged the last Death Scythe before the Shibusen-Witch alliance.

"What about you, Artemis?" asked Maka. "What's your form?"

"I'm a gun… I guess…" Artemis looked unsure as to what her weapon form was. "I'd say it's also an arm-brace… but I could also be a dart-gun…"

"Why don't you show me?" asked Maka, who was unsure as to whether laugh at the girl or feel sorry for her.

"That'd be better," replied Artemis before leaping and transforming into a silver arm-brace/gun, which fell rather heavily on the sandy-haired girl's left arm. "Whoops, sorry!"

"It's ok; I can handle it," replied the green-eyed girl while struggling to hold the weapon in her hand. "Cool! What kinda projectiles do you shoot?"

Before Artemis could reply, however, Black Star's voice interrupted her.

"All right, everyone!" he hollered. "It's time to sing Happy Birthday to Tsubaki!"

* * *

"Welcome back, Sid," said Spirit Albarn while sitting in the Death Room in Shibusen. "Did you hear the news?"

A tall blue-skinned zombie with black dreadlocks shook the Death Scythe's hand and replied, "So it's true that the half-Kishin came back?"

"Only one of them," answered Spirit. "But don't worry; Dante seems much more fun now than when he left."

"Dante, huh?" Sid Barett's partner, Nygus, stroke her chin pensively. "No sign of Vergil?"

"By the sound of it, the Sparda twins had a quarrel and a parting," shrugged Spirit. "But Dante took a job here, so at least we won't have to worry about Vergil coming back to resurrect Asura…"

"How do you think he'll react when he finds out he's gone?" asked Sid, whose undead face contorted into a smirk.

"He'll probably try and best whoever did it…" analyzed Nygus.

* * *

"…and only I'm awesome enough to have the best partner in the world!" Black Star finished his birthday speech to Tsubaki, and everyone present applauded his failed but honest attempt at driving everyone's attention to someone other than himself. The blue-haired boy then hugged his partner tightly and said, "Happy birthday, Tsubaki-chan."

"B-Black Star," the busty black-haired girl was speechless at her partner's full dedication to her during that special day, and she hugged him back.

In a corner, Dante was grabbing a drink and sharing it with Revenant and Rebellion. He looked slightly disgusted at the pair, and Revenant noticed.

"You okay, Dante?" asked the man with the Mohawk.

"I wish Lady could hug me like that…" replied Dante with a hiccup.

"He's drunk again…" remarked Rebellion to Revenant, and the two men grabbed Dante by the arms and were about to drag him out of the mansion, but the twin boys Agni and Rudra rushed in front of the trio and tripped Dante. "Goddammit, kids! Hold still!" Rebellion smacked the boys' heads and made them help Dante up.

Maka noticed the crowd was diminishing in size, and she quickly ran to the front door to see who was leaving the Shinigami Manor; she quickly caught up to Artemis and asked her why her group was leaving.

"Dante's drunk again," replied the purple-haired woman with a disappointed face. "I know you guys aren't too much into booze—"

"Well, it's more like we know someone who makes the booze go super-effective…" Maka remembered that the previous week she had sent the cat-witch Blair to explore the Witches' Realm with Kim, but the pinkette had returned cat-less. But that story could wait for another day, Maka thought, and she went to accompany Dante and his troupe out of the mansion, when suddenly…

"THE LITTLE BASTARD!"

Black Star rushed at incredible speed and tackled Rudra to the ground, quickly removing a familiar box from his person and yelling triumphantly, "You thought you could just pull that trick off again, could you?!"

"Oi, get offa the kid!" shouted Dante, who quickly straightened himself up and punched the blue-haired young man in the face, sending him reeling.

"Dante?" Rebellion, Revenant and Beowulf were surprised to see their Meister partner so steady after them having to carry him out of the mansion. Then again, this wouldn't be the first time the white-haired man pretended to be drunk just to get out of a party he found unamusing. Artemis' hand found its way to her frustrated forehead.

Maka looked at her childhood friend, about to reprimand him, but kept quiet when she realized that box was the very gift the blue-haired assassin had asked her to keep safe in her closet until the party arrived. She looked back at Dante, who was reprimanding Rudra for stealing, but the cyan-haired boy looked away in disrespect.

Tsubaki came out of Shinigami Manor's main building and into the courtyard to check on her hot-blooded partner, and Black Star looked back at her for half a second before realizing she was there. He uncharacteristically stumbled to his feet and walked to his raven-haired partner, who looked at him curiously. He mumbled something that made her eyes widen while he presented the box to her, which Rudra scowled at. The birthday girl didn't open the box, though; her arms wrapped around her partner tightly and her lips met his cheek quickly.

* * *

Dante punched a hole in his apartment wall. Rebellion had never seen his friend this angry at nothing he knew about before, but he knew that face was only made whenever Vergil and Dante met. The claymore then thought to himself that Dante's older twin wasn't around anymore; the defeat of Nero Angelo was certain proof of that. Finally out of any possibilities for what could make his Meister partner so wrathful, he decided to ask him.

"What the hell, Dante?"

"I dunno, man." Dante ran a hand through his hair in frustration, but he didn't know what else to do. "That kid is seriously incorrigible…"

"Who, Rudra?" Rebellion shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I told you that crashing a party was the worst idea you could have today."

"What? No!" Dante shook his head quickly. "They were practicing their stealth; that's much better than having to listen to them—"

"You idiot; you don't tell Agni or Rudra to practice pickpocketing!"

"I still hate his guts!"

"Who the hell are you talking about?!"

"Black Star!"

Rebellion's glasses slipped to the tip of his nose, and the man thought that maybe his partner wasn't entirely sober after all. He adjusted his lenses and sighed deeply before saying, "Go to sleep, moron."

"Yeah, I'll do that…" Dante deepened the hole in the wall before stomping into the room that the men shared.

The black-haired man groaned and decided to go for a walk in the city. After walking for a few blocks, he saw a shadow he immediately recognized as Nevan's (who wouldn't forget those tantalizing curves?) slipping away. He accelerated his pace and caught up with her after a minute or two and called her out softly.

"Psst, Nevan!"

"Oh?" Nevan turned around and easily recognized her ally and companion. "What're you doing here, Rebellion?"

"I figured I should walk around now that our friend went to bed…"

"Was he really drunk, though?"

"I think so," replied the green-eyed man with a shrug. "I've never seen him so pissed at a kid. Especially when he knew the kid was in the right this time."

"Who the hell taught Rudra to pickpocket?" wondered the redheaded woman aloud, and Rebellion nodded austerely.

"Anyways," continued the attractive man, "what're you doing here, Nevan?"

"I work at the cabaret," replied the Demon Guitar with slight coyness in her tone.

"Figures," muttered the Claymore while he crossed his arms. "I guess you didn't want Dante to know?"

"It's not like he's not gonna visit it, though." Nevan shrugged with a smirk and looked at her friend in the eye.

"Whatever." Rebellion made as to resume his way, and Nevan followed closely. After a short chat, the pair made it to a flower shop, where Rebellion bought a bouquet of camellias.

"Who're those for?" asked Nevan, interested.

"The birthday girl," replied Rebellion flatly.

"Don't let Artemis see you with her," teased the redhead before bidding the man farewell through a kiss in the cheek.

"Don't be silly; I'm gonna apologize for Dante," replied the green-eyed man while the pair parted ways.

* * *

"Is it just me, or is everyone being too nice today?" asked Soul aloud while he and Maka saw Rebellion leave their doorstep—it had been ten minutes since his encounter with Nevan—, headed to Black Star and Tsubaki's apartment.

"Well, Tsubaki does deserve an especially good treatment today, you know." Maka put her hands on her hips and stared at the man's well-built figure while the view lasted.

"Yeah, but even the Star-man was being… well…"

"A little out of character? Yeah, I noticed it too." The sandy-haired girl remembered how bashful Black Star had looked earlier that day when he handed his very special gift to his partner. "Maybe they do like each other?"

"How many times have we been over this, Maka?" chuckled the white-haired boy.

"Pretty much since you met him," replied the giggling green-eyed girl.

* * *

**FINALLY! XDDD man, we procrastinated a bit on this one... sowwy~! but Tsubaki's birthday was a pretty special occasion, and we didn't wanna ruin it with a fight... :P maybe next time, folks~~**

**So what did Black Star give to Tsubaki as her present? (seriously, I wanna read your guesses-post them as reviews!)**

**Was Dante really drunk, or was he just high? Why the hell is Blair still in the Witches' Realm?! (I think Klaus doesn't know what she'll do in this series, so that's why she's still left out) How do you think Tsubaki will react to dat sexy-ass Rebellion sending her a bouquet of flowers?!**

**All this and more in the next chapter of Kishin May Cry~~!**

**~Humbert**

**PS. I think it's kinda obvious that we're trying our best to mix both Dantes for this series, if our dear readers hadn't noticed already...**


	7. Fire Flies

"Why the hell're you here…?"

"The mission said it required two Meisters and I figured I'd be enough."

"You bastard, I'm more than enough by myself!"

"So'm I, so beat it!"

"YOU BEAT IT!"

Dante and Black Star started yelling at each other while they walked down a deserted mining camp, followed by the pair's weapons, all of which were trying to ignore their Meisters' argument by either chatting or taking in the ruinous scenery. Artemis and Nevan were trying to hold a conversation with Tsubaki, but the raven-haired young woman was too shy to talk to the more experienced weapons. Rebellion was holding Cerberus on a leash to prevent the three-headed canine from attacking the blue-haired Meister whose voice was starting to rise above Dante's. Revenant was smoking a cigar while chatting with Agni and Rudra because he had nothing else to do. Eventually, the group stopped in the center of town, though the young men were still insulting and flipping off each other.

"…and you're so lame you let your shop get blown to bits more than once!"

"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" Rebellion finally lost his temper, which surprised Dante and Black Star. "Sheesh, can't you two just not talk to each other if all you do is arguing all the time?"

Tsubaki looked worried at her partner, who had crossed his arms and looked away, and was about to approach him when Nevan stopped her.

"Say, can't you leave your boyfriend alone for a bit?" said the curvaceous redhead. "He's only a few yards away, and I can promise you that Rebellion won't let the morons fight…"

"Speaking of Rebellion, where did he go last night?" Artemis wondered aloud to her companion. Tsubaki's cheeks flushed when she remembered what had happened.

* * *

"Don't worry, Tsubaki; I'll get it!"

The door had been knocked on, and Black Star stood up to answer. He opened the door and saw the familiar sight of Rebellion outside, but holding a bouquet of flowers. The black-haired man scratched the back of his head and said, "Hey… Can we talk a bit?"

"Aren't you the guy that tags along that white-haired dickwad?" asked the blue-haired young man with a stone face.

"That dickwad is a bit of a basket case, but I'm there to keep him straight," replied Rebellion. "Anyways, I was gonna apologize for the kids' behavior today. I made sure they were punished for their pickpocketing today… and I brought your Shibusen I.D."

Black Star's eyes widened when the visitor pulled out a white card with two silver stars emblazoned in the center and the rest of the typical information one would find in a regular school or college I.D. He immediately snatched the card and put it in his wallet without thanking Rebellion, who chuckled at the boy.

"Well, I guess I should say 'apology accepted,' then." Black Star said after a short pause, and he scratched his own chest while looking up at the visitor. He pointed at the bouquet of camellias and asked, "What's with the flowers?"

"They're for your girlfriend." The black-haired man said while extending the bouquet to the blue-haired Meister. "I heard it's her birthday, so I kinda wanted to compensate…"

"She's not my girlfriend, you moron." Black Star's cheeks turned pink while he grabbed the bouquet. "But I'll tell Tsubaki you came here. Thanks, I guess."

"No problem," said the Claymore while turning around and waving lazily at Black Star.

The spiky-haired young man closed the door and turned around to see his blue-eyed partner shyly witnessing the events from around the corner that led to the pair's shared bedroom, and he walked to her while offering the camellias to her.

"There you go," said Black Star while looking away. "I'm not the only one that appreciates your assistance…"

"Oh, Black Star." Tsubaki wrapped her arms around her partner's neck and hugged him tightly. "You've given me the best birthday of my life!"

* * *

Black Star and Dante were brooding and with their backs turned to each other, having reached the mission's site. Neither of the men wanted to work with the other, but it was too late to do anything about it, so they had to reluctantly endure each other's company. Rebellion walked over to Tsubaki and whispered in her ear.

"Did you like my present?" he asked. The Demon Arm girl blushed deeply and nodded quickly, making the Claymore smirk. "Just in case, I did know about your name's meaning; I learned Japanese with Yamato in Shibusen."

"W-who's Yamato?" The raven-haired girl was sure Maka must've mentioned the name before already, but she couldn't recall to whom the name belonged.

"Yamato's the name of Vergil's weapon partner," answered Artemis, who appeared from seemingly out of nowhere with an odd glare at Rebellion. "Yamato and Rebellion were really close friends, and their partners… were just an added bonus to their friendship."

"Dante wasn't an added bonus, Artemis!" Rebellion was indignant at the purple-haired woman's comment. "We were the Fearsome Foursome! All of Shibusen respected us equally! We were… best friends." The black-haired man's green eyes saddened when he remembered an event that had taken place many years ago.

"Are you okay, M-Mister Rebellion?" Tsubaki stammered and took pity on the man, who was shedding a tear to lost memories.

"I-it's just the ashes and stuff around here…" muttered the man while wiping the tear away. "I get allergic and stuff…"

"Awww, Rebellion!" Artemis hugged her partner from behind. "You're so cute like that!"

"Mister Rebellion!" called Agni, who was running with Rudra and Revenant towards Dante. "No time for love; we got company!"

"About time he showed up," muttered Dante and Black Star at the same time, and their weapons rushed to their side, battle-ready. The blue-haired man looked at his white-haired companion and said, "Don't you have guns and gloves?"

"Left them at home," answered Dante before jumping at the incoming figure, who seemed to be a man wearing a gas mask, armor, and a jetpack with wings and wielded a flamethrower in his hands. "YAHOO!"

"Hey, that's my line!" Black Star was irritated and extended his hand to Tsubaki. "Chain Scythe Mode!"

Dante's legs were much stronger than any ordinary human's, and they propelled him much higher than any athlete's jump could ever hope to reach. He summoned a transparent demonic platform for him to use for a second jump, and pulled out Revenant in his shotgun form before shooting the man at almost point-blank; the target, however, quickly fired his flamethrower to use the hot air to lift himself out of harm's way.

"He's not bad," commented Revenant. "He knew where my range ended!"

"We gotta get him down from there!" shouted Nevan. "We don't have many options while he's in the air!"

"That's true," Artemis agreed. "May I recommend the next course of action?"

"Are you locked on?" asked Dante while he pulled out the silver gun from his left holster and aimed at the Firefly.

"Ready and waiting!"

Dante channeled his soul's wavelength through Artemis, who released it as a pink ball of energy that stayed in the air for a second before rushing at its target. While Artemis' bullet hit, Dante pulled out the purple guitar and played a fast arpeggio that released a violet-hued lightning bolt that struck at the flamethrower-wielder, who lost altitude because his jetpack started to fail. The red-coated man didn't stop there, though. Firefly started firing his flamethrower at Dante, but the latter pulled out Agni and Rudra to control the flames and use the wind to bring the target down, respectively.

In the meantime, Black Star noticed that the man Dante was fighting wasn't the only Firefly in the vicinity; about six more had joined the battle, and the blue-haired Meister wasn't going to let his guard down. Using the chain-scythe in his hands, he quickly lassoed down one of the targets and pulled himself towards him while the man tried to go back into the air. When the Assassin reached his victim, he quickly sliced him apart using his weapon's blades; he immediately aimed at another of the Fireflies and, after Tsubaki changed her mode into that of an enormous shuriken, threw his weapon at the next target and impaled him with one of the shuriken's points while dodging fire from the next of his targets.

Dante pulled out his tripartite nunchaku and started to successively land hits on his target, congealing him before he pulled out his shotgun and blasted him to pieces. The white-haired man sighed and smirked.

"That was dope," he said with a chuckle. "I wonder why the Star-kid let me take his target down, though…"

"Maybe it's because there's more than one target?" suggested Rebellion in a tone that didn't sound at all like a suggestion.

"Well, that makes sense," muttered the Meister with a shrug. He immediately pulled out Artemis again and aimed it at one of the Fireflies that Black Star hadn't taken out yet. "Prepare a Kablooey dart, Artemis," he commanded.

"Done; fire at will," replied the silver arm brace/gun. Dante fired an orange dart that latched onto one of the Firefly's wings before pulling out Nevan and playing three chords that created an electric shield around him that protected him from an incoming fireball from behind him. In an instant, Agni and Rudra were in his hands, and he slashed at nothing with the twin scimitars before a second fireball appeared in front of him and blasted one of the men down. Rebellion appeared in Dante's hand, and the white-haired man thrust forwards to finish off the second of his targets.

Black Star had climbed onto one of the Fireflies and stabbed him with Tsubaki's Ninja Dagger mode before jumping off and swinging to safety with his partner's Chain-Scythe mode after the last target left started firing at him. Suddenly, the man's jetpack exploded and the man fell to the ground. Black Star and Dante both took the chance and slashed the man apart with the chain-scythe and claymore, respectively, and a loud "YAHOO!"

Tsubaki and Rebellion both held onto the Kishin Egg that was left of the last man standing, and the girl blushed heavily and let go quickly. Rebellion looked confused and offered the red soul to the blue-eyed girl, whose cheeks reddened more. Black Star walked towards the glasses-wearing man with a dark scowl and smashed the Kishin Egg into his face, muttering, "Tsubaki's already got more than all of you had today, put together."

* * *

Liz, Patty, Ebony, and Ivory were laughing as they walked out of the movie theater. The two sets of sisters had watched a movie about dancing and they had lots of fun staring at the many shirtless guys that were showing off their muscles in the highly choreographed scenes. They were talking about the movie's plot and characters, though Patty was more focused on the moves than anything else, as evidenced when she performed a complicated pirouette similar to one that appeared in the movie and successfully landed it in the first try, impressing Ebony and Ivory. Liz and Ebony then started talking about which of the men in the movie was the most attractive, and both of the women started pulling legitimate arguments about why one guy was more attractive than the other. They suddenly bumped into Beowulf, who greeted the four girls politely. Dante's guns introduced him to the Thompson sisters, and the five walked together to eat dinner by Beowulf's treat.

"You're really nice and cute!" said Patty with a smile. "I wish Kid was like that with us all the time!"

"Patty!" Liz looked at her sister with a stern expression. "Kid is a good guy! It's just that his OCD goes before anything else to him…"

"He ain't the nicest person when that happens, though," replied the younger sister while poking her tongue at Liz.

"Kid has OCD?" asked Ivory, interested. "What's his obsession?"

"Symmetry," answered the Thompsons with a grimace. Liz added, "He's got the Madness of Order, so if there's anything asymmetrical in front of him, he'll try to fix it."

Ebony and Ivory looked at each other and smirked. Ebony turned to Liz and, still grinning, said, "Well, you and your sis aren't exactly identical twins, you know."

"I know." The older Thompson rolled her eyes. "Fortunately, Patty and I are pretty much the same gun when we transform."

"Ebby and I are similar," Ivory commented. "Except Ebby's a black gun and I'm a white gun…"

"Ivy's not being racist here," added Ebony when she noticed the face Liz and Patty made. "I do turn into a black gun—here." The dark-skinned girl transformed into a black gun that landed in Ivory's hand and immediately turned back when Beowulf noted that someone was looking at them weirdly from another table.

* * *

Black Star, Dante, and their respective weapons were riding the train back to Death City after the mission was over. Dante and his weapons were taking up two compartments, and they were chatting and having a good time. Black Star and Tsubaki, on the other hand, were silent. The blue-haired boy was looking out the window with his arms crossed, and the black-haired girl was looking at her lap with her hands between her knees. They both sighed at the awkward silence and the Meister decided to speak up.

"We did awesome today, didn't we?"

"Oh? Y-yeah…" The weapon seemed to be thinking about something other than the mission.

"Remember when we grappled to that guy? For a second there I thought I was gonna pull him down, but you held up pretty nicely!"

"B-Black Star? Can we not talk about the mission?" Tsubaki asked nervously.

"O-oh, sure. Whaddaya wanna talk about, then?" asked the boy while stretching his well-built arms.

"Why d'you hate him?"

"He's annoying and he has a bigger mouth than me."

Dante and Rebellion were in the train's hallway, away from the rest of the group, and talking with solemn expressions. The raven-haired man rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration, and the white-haired man crossed his arms.

"What is it, Rebellion?"

"You guys are so alike…"

"We are not!"

Black Star punched his seat angrily, and Tsubaki quickly shied away from him. Noticing the fear in his busty partner's face, the assassin's expression changed from annoyance to worry. He vented his rage through a loud sigh.

"I-I'm sorry, Black Star…" said Tsubaki, but the green-eyed boy raised his hand to shush her.

"Don't apologize; I overreacted…" The boy looked out the window again, but this time he didn't seem willing to talk again; the indigo-eyed girl sighed as well and stood up. Black Star grabbed her wrist and, without looking at her, said, "Please stay… I dunno how much more I can take of that moron…"

"Sheesh, Dante, are you having a homo moment?"

"Shaddup, you jackass! I'm just saying that I might pick a good fight with him, and you know that next time I mightn't be so generous…"

Rebellion rolled his eyes and replied, "That's what I'm here for, I guess…" before shaking Dante's hand off his shoulder and walking back to the compartment he shared with Nevan and Artemis.

Dante chuckled and muttered, "Though I DID have him inside me more than once already…"

Tsubaki, who had excused herself to go to the bathroom, overheard that last sentence and blushed deeply with perverted thoughts.

* * *

**Phew~! glad we finished this chapter before the work-week started! ^^ I was telling Klaus to put Berial in the story, but he reminded me that he was already slain by Dante in DMC4... so I decided to look for another fire-based villain while playing Batman: Arkham Origins, and there's where I got the idea to make many Fireflies to try and damage a village about as much as the real Berial would... but I think that could be considered either author trivia or mini-spoiler, so I won't talk about that anymore~~**

**It seems that Black Star and Dante's chemistry still ain't working, huh? Poor Rebellion and Tsubaki, having to deal with those two morons :P so what'll happen next between those two? Will the sparks fly and the fire start, or will their weapon partners manage to cool their blood down before anything happens~~? (I hope it's the former; I wanna see a good fight! :3 )**

**Beowulf seems to have gotten himself a harem as well, huh~? will he take advantage, or is his remaining eye as love-and-lust-blind as many anime characters' pairs of eyes?**

**None of these questions will be answered in the next chapter, but some of the ones you may ask might be~! so if you have any doubts, don't be coy~! I don't bite... most of the time~!**

**~Humbert**


	8. After the Mission

"CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!"

Dante and Revenant were competing to see which one drank five liters of the latter's favorite German beer the fastest, and the rest of the overage weapons and the bar's visitors were cheering them on. Dante's eyes were closed tightly, finding the taste of the beer too strong for his liking; Revenant, however, was smirking at his Meister from behind his giant mug while a few drops of the drink escaped his mouth due to the overflow in his mouth. Spirit Albarn was part of the crowd and he was holding Nevan and Blair by the waist while they all laughed at the scene. Rebellion was the contest's judge, and when Revenant proudly smashed his mug against the table, he declared his companion the winner. Dante, however, didn't stop until he finished his drink as well. The men burped loudly and bumped fists while the crowd celebrated the Mohawk man's victory. Revenant stood up and bowed at the bar's owner before flexing his tattooed arms playfully at Dante, who crossed his arms and looked away with a grin.

"You still have a ways to go before you can beat me, Dante!" called the shotgun to his red-clad Meister, who chuckled and shook his head.

"I'll get you next time, sucker," replied the white-haired man while shaking off a few strands that were getting in his eyesight. All the ladies there sighed at the gorgeous sight.

* * *

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

Black Star and Kid were fighting hand-to-hand in the latter's mansion, surrounded by a crowd of students. Even though Black Star had theoretically all the advantage, Kid was overpowering him using his more extensive knowledge of martial arts and his Shinigami powers, both of which were allowed in this battle. The Assassin wasn't giving up, though; his high stamina and attack power was almost a match for the young Shinigami's defense and agility. Eventually, however, Kid blocked a kick from Black Star and performed a Judo throw before pinning him down in a tight lock that was drawing the blue-haired boy's breath quickly. This last act forced Black Star to tap out, making Kid the winner of this match.

"I'll get you next time, Kid!" called the assassin while the Thompson sisters hugged their Meister in celebration. "Remember I'll surpass the gods!"

"I don't doubt you eventually will, Black Star," replied the black-and-white-haired youngster with a smirk. "But for now, I'm still better! Keep practicing!"

Black Star smiled his cheeky smile and went to put his shirt and scarf back on, both of which were held by his black-haired partner Tsubaki. When the busty weapon saw her partner approaching her with sweat rolling down his toned abdomen, she blushed and looked away until he was done dressing. Unfortunately for the Nakatsukasa princess, the blue-haired boy's shirt clung to his skin due to the amount of sweat he produced, and his features were still rather noticeable. Soul and Maka approached the pair, and the red-eyed boy shared a high-five with the green-eyed boy.

"Not bad," said the shark-toothed boy. "Though I didn't expect Kid to pull out a move like that."

"In a fight, you must be ready for anything, Soul," replied Black Star wisely. "But you should already know that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Soul chuckled and looked at Maka and Tsubaki, both of whom were chatting happily about something unintelligible due to the crowd that lingered after the fight. "So how'd your mission go?"

Black Star grimaced as if he had just met Excalibur again, which befuddled Soul.

"Don't tell me…"

"That asshole Dante was there…" Black Star completed the sentence for his friend, but Soul looked surprised at that statement.

"Dante was there?" he asked, amazed. "That's so awesome! I wanna take a mission with him!"

"He's a douche and he's annoying," commented the irritated blue-haired boy. "And he thinks he can take MY missions!"

"I think he's pretty cool," replied Soul with a shrug, and Black Star's glare intensified. "What? I don't understand why you hate him so much; you guys are like twins!"

"I hate that guy!"

Ebony and Ivory were surprised to hear Dante say he hated anyone, since he usually just flipped them off for fun. Dante's face, however, just expressed annoyance.

"How come, Dante?" asked Ivory while raising a brow. "That kid seems to have an ego as big as yours…"

"Not to mention he's good-looking," added Ebony into her sister's ear, and both girls giggled.

Dante, however, didn't hear that last statement and snapped. "You girls know very damn well I can't stand a guy with a bigger mouth than mine! He thinks he can surpass God!"

"You used to say that sometimes when we were in Shibusen, Dante." Rebellion entered the room after hearing his white-haired Meister shout. "And will you lower your voice? The kids and the pooch are trying to sleep."

"Sorry," replied the Meister with a non-apologetic tone.

"Still, Dante, can't you just talk to the kid about how you feel?" asked Rebellion. "It might help you sort your differences…"

"That kid'll probably rub his ego in my face!" muttered Dante, rolling his eyes.

* * *

The next morning, Tsubaki was waiting for Black Star to enter the classroom on time for once. Of course, the bell rang and the blue-haired hothead was nowhere to be seen, so she sighed and, as usual, entered the classroom with Soul and Maka. Stein was writing a few things on the board, but the black-haired girl didn't pay any attention as she walked to her usual spot in the classroom, wondering what on earth her hotheaded partner would be planning for an entrance to this class. The grey-haired professor's creepy monotone pulled her out of her reverie.

"Good morning, class," he said while twisting the bolt on his head with a loud CRANK! "As you may know, we've had a visitor in the past week. Don't be alarmed; he won't be leaving anytime soon…" When he said that his glasses' lenses reflected the sunlight that entered through a window and glared creepily. "I still need to cut open that Cerberus…"

"Umm, Professor Stein?" Maka raised her hand with a flat expression. "I don't think Dante will let you get close to that dog…"

"Not while he's awake, he won't," replied Stein with a smirk that deformed his facial stitches and made a shiver run down everyone's spines. "Anyways, I was gonna talk today about some of the many job options that graduates from the school may have, besides the usual Death Scythe duties." Stein nodded toward Soul and Maka, who looked proud at their mention.

Tsubaki looked out the window, hoping to see Black Star's hands climbing—or any part of him that reassured her that the boy was near—the window. Alas, she found nothing and sighed, turning her attention back to the center of the amphitheater, where Stein's hands pointed at the door, where a certain red-clad, white-haired man walked in. Many a female sigh were drawn out as Dante, followed closely by Rebellion, Beowulf, and Revenant, looked at the class and winked.

"Good morning, class," said Beowulf with a polite bow that made more girls sigh. "My name is Beowulf, and these are Revenant, Rebellion, and Dante."

"Isn't Revenant another word for zombie?" muttered Stein, who was looking curiously at the Mohawk man with the tattoos in his arms. In that precise moment, Sid entered the classroom in a rush and walked over to the grey-haired man. "Speak of the devil… What is it, Sid?"

"Sorry to interrupt your class, Stein," replied the zombie loud enough for everyone in the classroom to hear. Sid then lowered his voice and whispered to his coworker. "Azusa arrived, and she's not looking pleased…"

"About time she did," commented Stein with his uninterested monotone, "but it seems she'll have to wait a little—"

"Holy crap, Sid!" said Dante, who put a hand on the blue-skinned man's shoulder and made him jump in surprise. "You feel colder than usual! And you look so blue! Did your girlfriend dump you?"

"H-hey, Dante." A drop of sweat rolled down Sid's forehead. "I almost didn't recognize you with the white hair…"

"Why does everyone keep talking about my hair?!" Dante looked at nowhere in particular and raised his hands in frustration, as if he was flipping an invisible table.

"Um, boss?" The eye-patch man looked back at his companion. "I was talking here…"

"Oh, right… Sorry!"

Rebellion chuckled as Beowulf kept explaining about the profession of the bounty hunter. He looked up and noticed a certain busty black-haired young woman who was sitting alone. He had an urge to fill the empty seat that no doubt belonged to that blue-haired kid that always dragged her around, but he stayed in his place because he knew it was his turn to talk after Beowulf was done.

Before the glasses-wearing man could open his mouth, however, someone yelled "YAHOO!" The claymore immediately looked at Dante, and was surprised to find that his white-haired friend wasn't the source of the rebellious yell. The ceiling blasted open, and Black Star landed in the center of the amphitheater, between the three weapons that were glaring at him.

"Your god, the Great Black Star, has blessed you the gift of light!" shouted the blue-haired hothead with a proud smile.

Revenant wasn't going to take any of Black Star's shenanigans, and he grabbed the boy by the overly long neck of his shirt and threw him to an empty seat in the classroom, which so happened to be his own. The blue-haired boy landed face-first into his seat, and Tsubaki looked at him shocked. Stein looked at the hole that the egotistical youth had made in the ceiling and muttered, "Well I did tell Kid this room needed a skylight…"

Revenant pulled out a cigar from his shirt's pocket and lit it up with his lighter. The mad scientist noticed the act and quickly walked to him while Rebellion resumed his speech and whispered, "Can I have a smoke?"

"Sure," replied the tattooed man as he pulled out another cigar and offered it to the gray-haired man. As soon as Stein put the cigar in his mouth, Revenant lit it up.

"Thanks," said the professor with honesty. After he inhaled a bit of the poisonous gas, he exhaled it in the form of a skull. He then muttered, "Man, I needed one of these."

"You're welcome." Revenant smirked as he took another puff of his cigar.

* * *

Half an hour later, the class was over and the students started walking out chatting about Dante and his weapons' class. Most of the girls were talking about the men who gave the class, and Rebellion was the name that came out the most. The guys were talking about how they wanted to be bounty hunters when they graduated to be as cool as Dante. Soul Eater and Maka Albarn were smirking because they didn't feel the pressure of being role models crush them so much. Soul liked being as cool as a demon hunter, but he knew from experience that Death Scythes also had to do a lot of paperwork and boring things that usually made him earn a Maka Chop for being lazy.

Black Star was pouting while he walked out from the classroom with Tsubaki by his side. The busty young woman was trying to comfort him because he had a bruise on his face formed when he landed on his chair. The blue-haired boy walked out of the school and was on his way to his apartment when two girls stopped him.

"How's it going, Black Star?" asked Ebony with a smirk while Ivory drank a bottle of soda.

"Uhh, I'm fine," answered the green-eyed boy, feeling awkward. "Aren't you Dante's guns?"

"Yeah, so?" Ivory winked at the boy, and Tsubaki stepped forward.

"Do you mind?" said the raven-haired girl with a frown. "We're gonna have lunch…"

"Then I hope you don't mind if we tag along," replied the dark-skinned girl with a naughty smirk. "We're starving and hoping this well-endowed man can show us some good places."

Ivory noticed the black-haired girl's expression and smirked. The guns had noticed the way the Demon Arm looked at her partner, but they both liked the young man as well. Ebony and Ivory decided that if Tsubaki hadn't made a move at Black Star, then they would. Of course, the blue-haired Meister would have to choose only one, so the sisters were ready to try anything to win the assassin's heart… and maybe his boxers, too.

* * *

**Phew~! Sorry if this chapter seems a little short and/or disappointing, but Klaus and I were studying for a Physics exam and decided to add a "filler chapter" so you wouldn't eat us alive XDDD **

**Anyways~~ Dante's guns like Black Star?! it seems a certain Demon Arm girl is gonna have either competition or an overcrowded room at nights~~ personally, I hope Black Star likes at least one of his three main fans back; it'd be sad if he was celibate... Also, I'm planning on having someone else have their fun with Dante in the next chapter~~ ...and by fun I mean taking a mission (get your mind outta the gutter!)**

**So, who do you think will take a mission with our favorite Demon Hunter? will Black Star tap on either the guns or his partner~~? why is Rebellion so damn attractive to the girls?! (though according to the school's poll, Dante and Rebellion officially tied for first for the hottest guy)**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter~~**

**~_Humbert_**


	9. Memories and Jealousies

Maka and Soul were eating their breakfast as quickly as possible; Blair the Cat looked at them curiously and asked, "Nya, why're you eating so fast?"

Maka gulped down the large bite of her pancakes she had in her mouth before answering, "We've a mission today, and I don't wanna be late!"

The purple cat blinked and looked at Soul. "What's the mission about?"

"There's this serial killer on the loose in Seattle," replied the red-eyed boy. "Some people believe he appears in nightmares only, but there've been waking witnesses too…"

"Anyways, this guy's activity has increased recently, and he's too dangerous for any normal Meister and Weapon team to take down," added Maka after drinking a whole glass of juice in five seconds, "so Papa decided to send a Death Scythe team to take him out."

"Ooh," purred Blair with a smile. "Sounds fun! May I go~?"

"Well…" Soul looked at Maka, wondering if she would approve.

"Sure," said the pigtailed girl after a pause. "We might need your magic assistance…"

* * *

"Well, well, well! How long has it been?"

"Fourteen years, five months, and three days."

"So you kept count, huh? Did you miss me in all that time, Azusa?"

"Oh please, Dante… Nobody would miss a black-haired idiot like you…"

"I changed my image, as you may have noticed."

Azusa Yumi smirked and looked at the red-clad man's hair before commenting, "You still look like an idiot."

"I know, Azusa," replied Dante with a shrug. "I'd still disobey your bossiness, though."

"I thought you left school for a reason," said the black-haired woman while she adjusted her glasses.

"Well, you weren't the reason," said the white-haired man with a naughty smirk and a husky voice that made the Death Scythe blush slightly.

"I see you haven't lost your touch," replied the woman while she looked away. "No wonder you always did better than Spirit with the girls."

Dante chuckled and looked at Rebellion, who was reading a novel with Artemis, who was eating an apple while accompanying her partner, then at Revenant, who was watching Agni and Rudra play with Cerberus, and finally at Beowulf, who was trying to play Nevan in her Guitar form. The white-haired man's eyes widened and he recounted his weapons quickly. Yes, eight of his ten weapons were present, and the missing two were his guns Ebony and Ivory. He had expected them to appear anytime soon, especially since he told them that Azusa had arrived a few days ago and would tell them about their next mission. It seemed he was wrong.

Rebellion looked up at Dante and asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Uh, where're Ebony and Ivory?" asked Dante while he scratched his head. The black-haired Death Scythe next to him quickly moved away and went to chat with Revenant.

"I thought they'd arrive sooner," replied Artemis with a shrug. "I mean, I hoped they'd arrive so we'd all meet Miss Azusa…"

* * *

"Wake up, sleepyhead~~"

"Hm, what?"

"You have training to do today, remember?"

"WHOA!"

Black Star woke up with a jolt and noticed he was in the couch. He looked to his side and saw Ebony and Ivory kneeling next to him in before he remembered what had happened the previous night. The girls had invited Black Star to go eat something for the third time that week, and they had stayed chatting until past midnight. He had looked at his watch and decided it was time to go back home, so he had then invited Ebony and Ivory to spend the night at his and Tsubaki's place. Once they had made it to the apartment, the trio had spent three hours playing videogames before he suggested the girls took his bed while he slept in the couch. At least, that was the shortest summary of the events that he could concoct in his brain.

The sisters giggled when he stood up and stretched his shirtless body before he excused himself to go to the bathroom. When he entered—without knocking, by the way—, he bumped into Tsubaki, who was only wearing a towel and was grabbing her clothes to get dressed in the bathroom. They were both about to shout in surprise but they covered each other's mouth with their hands simultaneously and with a blush on their cheeks. Black Star looked behind himself and locked the door, now fully aware of what was going on.

"Ever heard of the lock, Tsubaki?" he whispered.

"Ever heard of knocking, Black Star?" she replied lowly.

"There was no sound from the bathroom and the door was unlocked!" said the blue-haired Meister. "Anyone would've thought it was empty!"

"S-so…?" the raven-haired girl looked away and covered herself more. "Anyone would've thought you had your 'fun' with those chicks…"

"Who, Ebony and Ivory?" asked the Assassin with a confused look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The indigo-eyed girl looked away and quickly changed the subject. "What were you gonna do here, anyways?"

"I was gonna take a leak, but you still haven't answered my question," replied the green-eyed boy while he crossed his arms.

* * *

"What's taking him so long?" asked the darker girl to her lighter sister.

"He's probably admiring himself," replied the other one. "He does act like Dante most of the time…"

"I think he's better-looking, though," commented Ebony with a gleam in her eyes.

"I called dibs on him when we crossed him and his partner in Shibusen, remember?" reminded Ivory. The girls had passed Black Star and Tsubaki in their first day there, and they had giggled at him as they unknowingly went to the same destination as the Weapon-Meister pair.

"Say, weren't we supposed to be somewhere today, Ivy?" Ebony tapped her chin pensively, and her sister shook her head. "I'm pretty sure we were supposed to go somewhere with the gang today…"

"I don't know," answered the light-skinned sister. "Frankly, I don't care; I'd rather be with Black Star…"

"Not if I get him first," said the dark-skinned girl with a competitive tone. Both guns then closed the distance between their foreheads and glared at each other. "You think you can have him, huh?"

"Well, you don't stand a chance!" replied Ivory, gritting her teeth.

"That kinda guy prefers girls like me."

"Judging by his choice of weapon partners, I'd say he'd rather have me!"

"At least I know how to please any guy!"

"At least I don't sleep with any guy!"

"I don't sleep with any of my dates!"

"Then how do you know how to please a guy?"

"I read stuff, numbskull!"

Ebony and Ivory started quarrelling on Black Star and Tsubaki's couch like little kids fighting over candy.

* * *

"Sorry we're late, Miss Azusa!" said Maka while she and Soul caught their breath in front of the Death Scythe and Dante's troupe. "We got caught up in the apartment!"

Soul, who was wearing a bandage on his head, nodded in agreement and looked at Dante. "Hey, Dante," he greeted.

"Hey," said the older white-head with a smirk. "You must be Soul Eater, am I right?"

"Right you are," replied the younger white-head. "I'm glad we get to have a mission together."

"Likewise," answered the red-coated man with a nod. "It's been a while since I worked with a Scythe and his Meister."

Maka smiled and said, "Papa Death Scythe might've told you that Soul's a scythe, but I don't think he mentioned he's the last Death Scythe!"

"And I bet your old man's real proud of you, kiddo," replied Revenant while he, Agni and Rudra, and Cerberus joined the group. He looked at Dante and asked, "Where're Ebony and Ivory?"

"No idea," answered the cyan-eyed man with a shrug. "But we gotta go, so I don't think they'll be able to come to this one…"

"Just when we expected to need them most," added Nevan while she adjusted her black tank top, which tightened around her large breasts.

Azusa adjusted her glasses and looked austere. "Are the girls slacking off?"

"Well, they said they had a date last night," commented Rudra while he scratched his head. "I overheard them when they left. Maybe they're still with their date?"

"Thank goodness we have Mister Revenant here, though!" said Agni with a smile to the powerfully-built man, who smirked back at the boy in appreciation. "Shotguns are less likely to miss than pistols!"

"But that depends on the guy behind the shotgun, Agni," replied Rudra. "Dante never misses whether he has pistols or a shotgun!"

"Speaking of shotguns, I like the Spanish word for shotgun." Agni smiled in amusement.

"What's the word?" asked Rudra.

"'Escopeta,'" answered Agni with a chuckle. "It's pretty fitting, don't you think?"

"'Escopeta' sounds funnier than 'Shotgun.'" Rudra agreed and the boys kept talking about 'Shotgun' and its Spanish term as if it was the most amusing thing they'd ever heard.

Azusa looked uncomfortable as Dante surrounded her with his arm and held her close to him while he unbuttoned the black shirt he was wearing underneath his coat that day. It seemed that Dante couldn't keep his professional look for too long, but she couldn't blame him this time; the heat was starting to turn up and the group at Shibusen's entrance was getting tired of waiting for Ebony and Ivory. Rebellion looked around and sighed, and Beowulf was adjusting his eye patch again to prevent it from sticking to his face. Soul looked at his partner and then at his watch. It was half past noon and the guns didn't seem to be willing to arrive. Dante finally clapped his hands, catching everyone's attention.

"Well, then," said he. "I guess it's time to go!"

"But boss," Beowulf replied, "what about Ebony and Ivory?"

"They don't seem too keen on arriving, Beo," answered Nevan, who was now tying up her wavy red hair into a ponytail to try and keep her head cool.

"We'll bring them souvenirs!" said Agni, and Rudra concurred.

"Let's bring them something Seattle-y!"

"How about food?"

"Dante or the pooch will probably eat it…" Cerberus barked, and Rudra corrected himself. "I'm sorry, Cerberus."

"Should we send them a selfie, then?"

"Selfies are cliché and heartless, brother!"

"True…"

"Where the hell did you find those kids?" Soul asked Revenant with a grimace.

"Well…"

* * *

_"Brother, our guest is sighing…"_

_"SIGH? What is SIGH?"_

_"Well, a sigh is when—"_

_"Enough already! How long are you gonna carry on like that? In case you haven't noticed, your GUEST wants to go through!"_

_A younger Dante with an unbroken red coat and a cockier face looked irked while his weapons Ebony and Ivory, Rebellion, Revenant, and Cerberus looked slightly more amused than their Meister. Two headless golems, one red and one blue, rose from different columns and grabbed the scimitars in front of them while Dante and his then-smaller crew prepared for battle…_

* * *

"…and we fought 'em," finished Revenant while the group was riding the bus to the airport.

"Just like that?" asked the white-haired Death Scythe while raising an eyebrow. "You kicked their asses and the kids joined you?"

"Yup," answered Dante before Revenant opened his mouth. "But it was under one condition…"

"What was it?" asked Maka curiously.

"NO TALKING!" said Dante's crew in unison while Agni and Rudra's faces turned red and they quieted down.

Azusa smiled at the troupe's sense of humor and partnership, and looked out the window.

* * *

Tsubaki wasn't having a good day at all. First of all, she had to endure the gun sisters Ebony and Ivory giggling and talking to each other at an unholy hour (_'Who the hell talks until four in the morning?!'_ she thought to herself), then she found the sisters all over Black Star the next morning, then she was rudely intruded upon in her shower time by the same blue-headed idiot that seemed oblivious to Ebony and Ivory's affections, not to mention the awkward questions that came from that, and finally, she was now having to follow the three youngsters around like she was their babysitter.

At least, that's what she told herself for that last half hour.

She wasn't exactly babysitting the trio… at least, not to their knowledge. The raven-haired young lady was looking at them have fun in the nearby arcade from around a corner, unnoticed by even her Meister. Tsubaki mused that maybe that stealth training she had had had finally paid off, though not for the kind of situation she expected. Her stomach grumbled, and she realized she hadn't had lunch—something else that the Meister and guns had shared without her—and, sighing, she walked towards the nearest fast food restaurant.

While Tsubaki was in the line, a voice called her from behind.

"Heya, Tsu-chan!" said Patty's voice happily.

"How's it going, Tsubaki?" greeted Liz just as happily. When Tsubaki turned around to look at them, however, the older Thompson sister's expression changed. "What's wrong? Everything okay?"

"She's just hungry, sis!" said Patty with a compassionate smile—or whatever she could do in an attempt. "That's why she's here, no?"

"I figured you'd eat with Black Star, though," commented Liz. The Nakatsukasa heiress's expression signaled that she'd hit the nail in the head. "…I figured."

"Before either of you starts wailing like a siren," interrupted the younger Thompson sister, "can we do it AFTER we buy our food…?"

Half an hour later, Patty's expression was simply disgusted while she ate her fifth burrito in a row and watched Tsubaki cry on Liz's shoulder.

"I dunno what's so bad about it, though," said Liz while patting her indigo-eyed girl friend's head. "You two don't seem to be as into each other as you used to be… Right?"

"You've gotta be kidding me…" muttered the shorter-haired sister while she rolled her blue eyes.

"Hey, I'm trying to be of assistance here!" spat the longer-haired sister. "Maybe you should try helping out here!"

"Nah, I'm good," replied Patty while sipping on her soda. She looked away from the pathetic sight and noticed a silver-haired young man wearing a black suit checking his watch at the corner before he looked at Shibusen. The younger sister's eyes widened and she poked Liz's cheek. "Neh, hot guy at five o'clock."

"I can't think about that now, Patty!" scolded Liz, but not before eyeing the admittedly attractive male that was now departing the sister's field of view.

* * *

The man shook his head to move his silver bangs from his left eye before he walked towards that building that had so many memories of his youth. He knew what he had to do; he had to make sure the DWMA was prepared to receive the return of one of its most powerful Meisters ever, and Yamato smirked when he remembered it wouldn't be long until then…

* * *

**Finally done with this chapter! :DDDD sorry it took us so long, people... last three weeks were HELL... not to mention our apartment's owner is an ass... but that's none of your business, so I won't talk about it anymore XP**

**so yeah, who was that guy in the end~? you might've read it, but I still wanna hear from you guys~ why was he in Shibusen, and why the hell is Black Star still a virgin if he has three-plus girls after him?! I wanna hear your opinions and reactions to this chapter soon enough~!**

**~_Humbert_**


	10. Blonde's Nightmare and Raven's Paradise

Maka had already been in horror-movie-like scenarios before, but this one made the hairs in her nape stand while she walked alongside Dante with their weapons at hand in the abandoned building they were at. Dante, however, was whistling a tune while he spun Cerberus' nunchaku form around. The pair stopped in the end of the hall, where the building separated in two. Used to the ancient routine, Maka gripped her scythe more tightly while she took the left path, and Dante kept whistling while he put Cerberus away and took the right path. She didn't know why, but she felt more confident with Dante by her side; now that he was gone, Maka's hands started to tremble a little.

"Maka, calm down," said the scythe in her hands. "This guy ain't as scary as Asura was, and he's supposed to be only a half-pint!"

"I know, Soul," replied the pigtailed girl. "But I can't see this bastard anywhere, even with my Soul Perception…"

"So? We've dealt with worse, even before you awakened your Soul Perception!"

"Y-you're right; I can't let this wuss intimidate me!"

"That's the spirit!"

Now feeling more confident, Maka walked with a steadier pace and inspected every area of the building in search for the Kishin Egg they were looking for. The target was apparently too strong for any normal Weapon/Meister team to take on, so Kid and Spirit decided to send a Death Scythe team… and Dante's. However, the opponent they were facing was supposedly not strong enough to be considered a full-fledged Kishin yet. The place was uncomfortably dark, but it still had enough flickering lights every few meters for Maka and Dante to know where they were headed. A sound of a power generator rumbled every now and then in the building, keeping the pigtailed Meister on high alert at every moment. She wasn't exactly scared, but the fact that she AND Dante were needed was… disturbing.

Suddenly, the rancid smell of something Maka immediately recognized as putrefaction filled her nostrils and made her cover her mouth in surprise. Soul commented that they should find the source of the smell, since it might be a lead on their objective's whereabouts. Maka quickened her pace to find the source and, after about three minutes, she found the source of the smell and gasped when she saw it. It was a human corpse, though its limbs were wrapped around it like bondage, and the bones were shattered and splinters protruded the skin in different areas, leaving bloody stains wherever the dead person had clothes on. The sandy-haired Meister couldn't bear to keep looking at the mangled corpse anymore, and she quickly turned around while retching. Soul turned back into his human form to help his partner walk away from the scene, but he tripped over something else. When he looked at what impeded his movement, his foot had been grabbed by another decrepit corpse and was being dragged to the room. Soul started shouting and kicking at the hand that held him, but to no avail. Maka wasn't helping either; she was paralyzed in fear because she was looking at something approaching. Whatever it was, its silhouette was moving slowly towards her and she found herself unable to move away from it. She finally could see what the thing was when a light just over it exploded and let his face and features be seen for about an instant. He wore a green and red shirt and brown loose trousers that made his silhouette look bigger than he really was under the light, and a brown fedora that didn't help cover that hideous face of his, which had its skin burnt off, and his rotting teeth could be seen through another hole where his cheeks were supposed to be; his blue eyes were glazed with yellowish cataracts and the putrid smell intensified tenfold with each step the team's target took.

Maka could feel tears flowing down her cheeks, but her body still wouldn't budge an inch as the monster reduced the distance between himself and her. Soul's screams were heard at the other side of the room, as if his body was being pierced with a corpse's nails. The monster approached the girl and moved her chin up with his gloved hand's blades, smiling evilly as he did so…

In the meantime, Dante was still whistling as he checked every room in his side of the building. He remained unfazed as the random background noises increased in volume; he was getting closer to the sources. Rebellion, who was strapped firmly to the red-coated man's back, commented, "Is it just me, or the power generator in this dump has some serious issues?"

Nevan was the first to answer. "I can fix it if you want," she said.

Artemis spoke up next and replied, "You'd need to find the power generators and reboot them completely. For that, I wouldn't recommend you go alone…"

"Oh! Oh! I volunteer to go with Miss Nevan!" said Agni excitedly.

"I wanna go too!" concurred Rudra happily. "This place is creepy as hell!"

"Though we've been in hell and it was quite creepy, brother," replied Agni with a shudder.

"Well, yeah, but you know what I m—"

"Ah, shaddup and let's go…" interrupted Beowulf as he transformed back into his human form and extended his hands towards Dante, who immediately handed over Agni, Rudra, and Nevan to the eye-patch wearing man. Beowulf then ignited Agni's blade and, using it as a torch, walked away.

Rebellion muttered, "And there go our primary sources of light…"

"Yeah… didn't think of that…" replied Dante when he noticed that his surroundings were indeed darker than they thought. He started walking again after saying, "Well, whatever. Let's keep walking."

_'This is it…'_ Maka was thinking as she felt her energy being drained by her target. She never expected to go out like this, though. She'd braved through even Asura's Madness of Fear, but this guy was… something else. Her mission was supposed to be to eliminate all Kishin Eggs before they could become full-fledged demons, but if this guy wasn't still at max power, then may Death have mercy on this guy's victims when he reaches it…

Finally, Maka was completely surrounded by darkness.

"Hey, get your claws off her," said a voice that interrupted Maka's pre-mortem reverie. The beast that was staring into her eyes diverted his gaze to look at something that was right next to him, and Maka could feel some of her energy returning to her as the lights went back on. She moved her eyes to see who had said that, and she saw Dante aiming his shotgun straight at the man's face. Dante's smirk widened as he said, "I won't tell you a third time; get your _filthy fucking_ claws off my partner, Freddy."

"Sheesh, Dante, why the language?" asked Artemis while the white-haired hunter fired his weapon at the monster, who moved at an incredible speed to dodge the blast.

"He was killing her, in case you didn't notice," answered the red-clad man while firing a second, third, and fourth time at their target. "Prepare a Kablooey dart."

"Done; fire when ready," replied the silver gun. Dante, however, didn't immediately shoot. He kept unloading Revenant upon the monster, which was starting to move slower due to its decreasing stamina. As soon as he saw his opportunity, Dante immediately took out Artemis and fired the orange dart, which latched onto the opponent's left leg. The hunter then moved his hands to the holsters on his back to pull out his faster set of handguns before remembering…

"Goddammit, the girls aren't here!" Dante quickly pulled Revenant out and said, "Go help the kids; we might actually need some help on this one."

The shotgun transformed back into its human form and ran to where Maka lay, half-conscious and groaning slightly. He knelt beside her and patted her cheek a few times until she could finally open her eyes and focus on her surroundings.

"What happened…?" said the pigtailed Meister when she saw a flash of Dante battling the monster. "Where's Soul…?"

"I'm right here…" groaned her partner's voice, and Maka and Revenant turned to see Soul with his spiky white hair all messed up, and a few cuts and scrapes all across his legs and lower torso. His left arm had transformed into his scythe form's blade, and he didn't look exactly pleased to have gone under the experience of being attacked by whatever it was that attacked him. He tried to smile confidently at the green-eyed girl, but his wounds weren't as light as they seemed, and the white-haired boy only pulled out a grimace.

Dante looked back at his shotgun and smirked, knowing that the kids would recover. He turned his attention at his opponent, who at that very moment lunged to attack him. Dante dodged and pulled one of Artemis' triggers, detonating the orange dart that was trapped in his leg; he immediately pulled out Rebellion and started slashing at the group's target rapidly, heavily damaging the monster. He thrust his claymore into the monster and quickly pulled out Cerberus, with which the hunter started hitting the Kishin Egg that was now wailing in pain. Dante looked back and saw Maka holding her scythe tightly and concentrating, and he decided to cancel his combo by making his nunchaku freeze the target solid and moving aside.

"SOUL RESONANCE!" shouted Maka and Soul in unison as the scythe's blade started glowing with a bright white light. "This is the end: Warlock Hunter!" Soul transformed from a blinding white scythe to an ax that immediately sliced vertically down the monster's spine. "Your soul is ours!" As soon as the pigtailed Meister said that, the white line that was left on the target's body from the attack started shining intensely and the monster's body exploded, leaving behind a red soul and the bastard's dirty fedora.

Soul transformed back into his human form and stepped over to the Kishin Egg that floated feebly in the middle of the hallway and grabbed it. The rest of Dante's weapons had also transformed back to their standard forms, and they were smirking at the albino boy who was holding their target. Soul suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable and looked around. Maka was glaring at him with her arms crossed, as if telling him not to take that soul. Soul sighed and raised his arm, holding the red orb up high.

"Anyone want it?" he asked.

"Nah, you can take it, Soul," replied Rebellion with a smirk while he cleaned his glasses.

"You did finish the job, after all," added Artemis, who was imitating Rebellion.

"Yeah, but I already took plenty with the little bastards he sent after me," commented Soul with a shrug. He looked at the blue three-headed Husky and extended the soul to it. "Want it, mutt?"

One of Cerberus' heads started panting happily, while another growled lowly and the third looked at Dante, who chuckled and translated for Soul and Maka. "The pooch doesn't really like being called anything other than Cerberus—" All three of Cerberus' heads barked angrily at Dante. "I know," he told them before turning back to Soul. "Still, he does want it."

"Cool," said Soul before he threw the red orb at the dog, who happily jumped and started munching it down with its three heads. Soul laughed at the dog's behavior and said, "Guess I'm not the only soul eater, huh?"

"Did we miss something?" suddenly called out a boy's voice.

"Oh, no…" muttered Maka.

"Apparently so, brother," replied another's voice. "I knew we should've stayed with Dante!"

"You volunteered to go with Miss Nevan, Rudra!" replied Agni, irritated. The remainder of Dante's weapons turned around the corner and saw the rest of the group staring at them. Agni shrugged and looked at his brother before saying, "Look at that, Rudra; now everyone's staring at us!"

"Hey, that's not my fault!" replied the blue-haired scimitar, annoyed. "You're the one with the loud voice here, Agni!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Shaddup!"

"YOU shaddup!"

Before the boys could start quarrelling again, Artemis appeared behind them and smacked them into each other, knocking them both unconscious. Revenant sighed and picked the boys up and carried them. Maka and Soul chuckled a little before the Meister suddenly lost her balance, making her lean on her partner. Dante noticed the little incident.

"You okay, kiddo?" asked the older white-haired man to the pigtailed girl.

Maka, who was being supported by Soul, groaned a little before replying. "Y-yeah… That bastard was trying to suck my soul out…"

"He WHAT?!" asked Soul, whose red eyes widened immediately. He started shaking his partner back and forth and put his hear against her chest, as if he was trying to hear her soul rattling in her slim body. Maka grew an extra vein in her temple—something that usually happened whenever she got pissed—and pulled a book from out of nowhere before smashing its spine into her weapon's skull. "Well, it failed on sucking that bit off her…" muttered Soul while he was rubbing his throbbing head.

"Wait, I thought you guys had that Soul Perception thingy?" asked Artemis, who saw the event and was now scratching her head in confusion while she and the rest of the group started walking out of the building.

"Only Meisters have Soul Perception, Artemis," answered Maka. "Some weapons can acquire the ability, but only through a Soul Resonance, and only during the Resonance. This idiot, however…" The green-eyed girl looked at her partner, who glared back at her with his hands covering his head.

"Hey, I may not see souls, but I can make your Perception range extend with our Resonance, remember?" said the red-eyed weapon. "And no need to call me an idiot!"

"Why call a rock by any other name?" snapped Maka with a sour tone, and Artemis chuckled lowly.

* * *

Tsubaki wasn't sure about whether to throw her partner out the window, or his phone. Black Star was still talking to either of Dante's guns through the phone, something he'd been doing since three in the afternoon, when the trio had separated. Ebony had written her phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to the blue-haired boy with a wink that was simultaneous to Ivory's. Tsubaki had arrived to her apartment after talking with Liz and Patty, and she found her Meister rummaging under the futon's cushions until he pulled out his phone, which he seldom used except for talking to his partner, or his close friends. The raven-haired girl didn't know how, but the weapon sisters quickly found their way into Black Star's contact list, which wasn't exactly something that pleased her.

Tsubaki sighed for the fourth time in the last ten minutes, and Black Star looked around until he found her. He smiled at her and gave her a thumbs-up, oblivious to the fact that that sign wasn't exactly appropriate for that situation. The indigo-eyed girl forced a smile at her partner, but she wasn't feeling too well after all, and Black Star noticed. He quickly dismissed himself from the call and hung up the phone before walking towards her.

"You okay, Tsubaki?" asked the hotheaded young man.

"Y-yeah," lied the Demon Arm, forcing another smile.

The blue-haired boy raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms while saying, "C'mon, Tsubaki, d'you really think I don't know you well enough to know when you're not okay?" The busty girl's cheeks reddened a bit, and the assassin continued. "Tell me, what's wrong? If someone's bothering you, I'll beat the crap outta them!" He punched his open palm and cracked his knuckles with a smirk.

"B-Black Star… what do you like about those girls?" Tsubaki asked, sounding a little more serious.

"What? Whaddaya mean?" asked the assassin, confused.

"Ebony and Ivory!" said the weapon girl while holding her arm. "D-do you l-like them…?"

"Of course I like them," replied Black Star with a smile, "they're my friends!"

"O-oh…" Tsubaki felt slightly more relieved, and her chest started pounding a little faster. There were, however, a few questions that remained in her brain. "Do you—I mean, are you interested in either of them… you know… um…"

"I'll pretend I know what you mean and say no," replied Black Star with his eyebrow raised and a slightly amused expression.

"If you'd let me finish, I'd've probably told you what I meant," commented the raven-haired girl with a little giggle that dissipated quickly. "Black Star… A-are you planning on leaving me to become their partner…?"

"Why the hell would I do that?" asked the green-eyed boy as he crossed his arms. "They're already with that moron Dante, and they often talk about him. It's kind of annoying, you know…"

"R-really…?" the Demon Arm's indigo eyes lit up when she heard that, and she looked at Black Star.

"What, you thought I was gonna leave you just because they're my new friends?" asked the assassin, now slightly worried. When the girl in front of him looked down silently, he walked towards her and pulled her close to him, embracing her and patting her head. Tsubaki, who stood two or three inches shorter than her partner after the latter finally hit his growth spurt, blushed madly and looked up at the boy. "I'd never leave you for new friends, Tsu-chan," he reassured her while hugging her. "You're my soul mate, remember?"

_'Oh. My. God,'_ thought Tsubaki to herself while her heart started pounding in her chest, which felt like it was about to explode. _'Did he just say we're… S-S-SOUL MATES?!'_

"Well, since it seems you were bored all this time," continued Black Star after a few seconds of silence, "how about we watch that series I told you about? That way you'll be as awesome as me 'cause we watch the same stuff!"

"U-uh, sure," stammered the weapon girl, who was still stunned.

"Awesome! I'll put Netflix on, then! YAHOO!"

* * *

**Sorry it took us so damn long to write this one, people! DX Hell week happened and College hit its difficulty spike and neither Klaus nor I could do anything about this chapter until like last week... **

**still, we're ready and waiting for our next round of exams but not without this chapter to cheer you readers up~~! :3**

**So! Maka and Dante's teams had a lotta terrible and terrific terror fun~! XDD and Tsubaki's living in a dream right now, apparently~ teehee~~ what will happen next? Do you think a battle might erupt for Black Star's heart~? Or maybe a foursome~~? XDDDD**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter~~~! :DDDD**

_**~Humbert**_

**As some of you may have noticed, the rating has been raised to Mature. Obviously we wouldn't raise it from Teen for idiotic reasons like language (what kinda teen hasn't said at least one "shit" in their life?), so you might have an idea of what might happen later in the series! Enjoy.**

_**-Klaus**_


	11. A Battle for Years to Come!

When Stein finally got to where Maka and Kid had called him from, all he could see was Dante, cut and bruised all over and panting, surrounded by his weapons, and Black Star, who was unconscious, being tended to by a crying Tsubaki and accompanied by his worried friends.

"What the hell happened here?" asked the grey-haired man in a severe tone.

"Only the best battle ever," answered Dante with a grunt and half a smirk. "I never expected him to be that strong…"

"How the hell did it end up like this…?" muttered Maka while looking at her unconscious friend.

* * *

Three days after Maka and Dante returned from their mission together, Kid decided to take one with him too. Black Star had planned to take the mission with the young Shinigami, but the black-and-white-haired boy had denied his assistance, leaving the assassin alone and confused. Two days after that, Maka took another mission with the Hunter, this time to protect a foreign president while he stayed in Washington. When she returned, Maka wouldn't stop talking about how much fun she and Soul had had during their stay, and Black Star wouldn't listen to it.

He'd vent his frustration at being left alone through working out, and in a week he'd gained three pounds of pure muscle—none of which were underappreciated by Tsubaki, Ebony and Ivory. The gun sisters would visit the blue-haired boy every now and then between missions, and they'd share a lot of fun together with Tsubaki, who had decided to try to become friends with her love rivals. They wouldn't talk much about Dante, him being Black Star's berserk button. The point is that the next week or two had gone rather calmly because Black Star and Dante wouldn't even pass each other in a hallway.

Of course, that eventually had to end.

It was Friday and Dante and his group had gone to eat pizza, as usual, in their favorite restaurant in Death City. Unfortunately, Black Star and his friends were there too, finally sharing some friendly time outside of school hours. Dante was about to turn around and leave the place, but Rebellion grabbed him by the back of his coat.

"Are you gonna chicken out of pizza just for some loser?" he asked, frowning at his Meister.

"N-no," replied Dante, defeated. Nevan looked at her companions and decided to take the farthest table from Black Star.

Ten minutes later, a waiter came in.

"Good evening," said the boy while he adjusted his round glasses.

"Heya, Ox!" greeted Dante with a smirk at the near-bald boy, surprising him.

"Oh, so even the great Dante can remember my name?" said the bespectacled boy with a smile. "I'm flattered."

"Take our order," said Beowulf with a friendly smile, "we're starving!"

"Okay, then," said Ox happily while he pulled out a notebook and pen. "What're you hungry for?"

Dante was the first to answer.

"I'll have a medium pizza with everything but mushrooms and olives," he said. "And please make sure it doesn't have olives. I hate 'em."

"One medium pizza without olives, no olives, and everything but olives… or mushrooms," said the boy while annotating. He looked at the rest of Dante's troupe. "What about you guys?"

"Medium Hawaiian pizza," replied Rebellion. "And make sure it has plenty of pineapples and bacon."

Artemis giggled at the black-haired man while Nevan ordered. "Artemis and I'll have a large green-pepper pizza."

Revenant's turn came next. "Sportman pepperoni pizza," he said. Agni and Rudra's faces lit up.

"Does that mean you'll share with us, Mister Revenant?" asked Rudra. After the Mohawk man nodded, Agni whooped and fist-bumped his brother.

"Uh-huh," muttered Ox while scribbling quickly. He then looked at Ebony and Ivory and asked, "What'll you ladies have?"

"We'll have Black Star on a silver platter," answered Ebony while looking wistfully at the blue-haired boy at the other side of the restaurant.

Ivory's face turned red and she nudged her sister with her elbow and said, "Ebby, you moron! We're ordering pizza!" She then turned to Ox and said, "We'll have whatever Black Star had, though in a medium pizza."

"That's another Hawaiian pizza, then," commented Ox while writing on his notebook and not noticing Dante's glare at the blue-haired hothead. "Ho-kay, then… what about drinks?"

Dante and Revenant answered "Beer," Nevan, Ebony and Ivory replied "Water," Agni and Rudra said they wanted a chocolate and vanilla milkshake, respectively, and Artemis said she wanted a bottle of vodka. Ox wrote it all down and left after promising it'd take about fifteen minutes for their food to arrive.

In the meantime, Black Star was talking about the last mission he'd taken with Tsubaki the previous day, which was completed in record time "Because I'm that awesome," as the assassin said. His friends were either listening or chatting amongst themselves. Tsubaki had heard the doorbell ring as Dante and his troupe entered, and was now eyeing them from afar, making sure neither Dante nor her partner would do anything stupid. Finally, Kilik (he was also working as a waiter) arrived with the Spartoi group's meal and Black Star shut up and sat down, eager to eat his pizza.

* * *

Dante was helped to his feet by Beowulf, who also looked battered. The rest of his weapons weren't in perfect condition, either; the battle had taken its toll on everyone. Rebellion, whose shirt was ripped in half, limped towards his Meister and put his hand on the white-haired man's shoulder. Their gazes met and then they both looked at the unconscious boy with a worried look.

"I can't believe it," said Rebellion with a sad face. "He sounded just like him…"

Dante remained silent, but his eyes were glossy from held-back tears. So many things were so similar between those two, now that he thought about it…

Ebony and Ivory walked towards Tsubaki, who was holding Black Star against her chest while crying passionately. He wasn't dead, of course, but the fight had been so intense he was lucky to be alive, according to Nygus, who was also there while they all waited for an ambulance. The sisters knelt beside the pair and each put a hand on Tsubaki's shoulder while shedding a few tears. Tsubaki looked at the sisters, who nodded and cried together with the raven-haired girl.

* * *

Black Star and Tsubaki had separated from their group as they all went home and walked together through Death City's plaza under the light of the setting sun, chatting happily about nothing in particular. The raven-haired girl hadn't had a private moment with her partner like this in a long time, and she was more than glad it was going so well. They finally sat in a bench in the center of the plaza, and Black Star immediately started gloating at the passers-by about how awesome he was and everything that that included. After he was done with his speech, he noticed the plaza was empty save for himself and Tsubaki, who was still looking up at him with a smile on her face. He sat down and crossed his arms with his cheeky grin, and he turned to his partner.

"That was fun," he said. "Did you like today's speech?"

"I like how you mentioned you'd never lose to Dante because you have me," said the weapon with a giggle. She then scooted closer to Black Star and leaned her head on his shoulder. The blue-haired assassin became flustered quickly.

"H-hey! What're you doing?" he said, quickly turning red but not doing anything about it.

"What? Can't I lean my head on your shoulder?" asked the busty girl with a smile as she closed her eyes. "It's not the first time I've done it."

"Y-yeah, but that time we were on a train and there were no beds and you were sleepy…" muttered Black Star while looking around. Noticing no one around, he relaxed a little and wrapped his arm around Tsubaki's shoulders.

Tsubaki, however, noticed that he was still a little nervous.

"What is it, Black Star?" she asked her partner, looking at him.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the weather being a little… funny?" said the boy, looking around once again.

* * *

Black Star coughed a few times, opened his eyes, and looked around himself. Tsubaki and Ivory sighed, relieved, and held him tightly, grateful that he was awake. Revenant, who had lit up a cigar and was walking around nearby, noticed the event and muttered, "Can't believe the sonuvabitch made it…" He then walked towards Dante and said, "He's awake." Dante nodded and limped over to Black Star and his escort. "I'm not gonna do anything," he assured Tsubaki, and the latter nodded with a sniffle.

"You okay, Black Star?" he asked, looking down at the boy.

"Everything hurts…" muttered the assassin. He then looked up at the older man and added, "Bastard… I'll get more power and surpass you…"

* * *

"You've taken your eye off the ball," said a voice in front of the couple, surprising Black Star and Tsubaki.

"Who said that?" asked the boy, standing up quickly. "Show yourself!"

"Black Star? What's that?" said the girl, pointing at somewhere to their left. The boy looked towards where she was pointing at and thought he was losing his mind. A younger version of himself was walking towards him, with his cheeky grin expressing malice.

"Who the hell are you?!" asked the older Black Star, raising his fists defensively.

"I'm just a friendly reminder," replied the shorter Black Star, putting his hands on his hips. "I thought you'd've gotten more powerful by now…"

"I'm the most powerful being in existence!" snapped the original, gritting his teeth.

"Then why did you lose to Dante?" expressed the copy, raising an eyebrow. "If you're a god, then a half-pint like Dante shouldn't be a problem!"

Black Star's eyes were changing shape and color. Where there were green, circular irises, there were now golden stars. Both Black Stars smiled madly, and the younger one disappeared. Tsubaki, who saw the exchange, stood up and, grabbing Black Star by the shoulders, turned her partner around.

"Black Star!" she said. "Please tell me you're not under your Madness again!"

"C'mon, Tsubaki," replied the boy softly, holding her chin up gently. "I need to get even with Dante."

* * *

Dante was tossing a baseball around with Agni and Rudra in Shibusen's baseball field, also making Cerberus fetch it, when Rebellion commented on the weather. Dante looked up—and received a baseball to the head—and noticed that the weather was indeed too weird. The group suddenly stood up when they all noticed Black Star approaching with Tsubaki in her Chain-Scythe mode in his hands. Dante didn't know why, but he had the feeling something good was about to happen. His weapons must've thought the same, for they all surrounded their Meister with serious faces. Even Ebony and Ivory weren't smiling at the target of their affections.

"What up, Black Star?" greeted Dante with a confident smirk.

Black Star raised his right arm and pointed it at the white-haired hunter. "You and I have a score to settle, outsider," replied the youngster with a slightly deeper voice than he usually had.

"Oh, so now I'm an outsider?" asked the red-clad man while he snapped his fingers. His companions immediately transformed into their weapon forms and Dante arranged them as quickly as possible and organized them to become more efficient to the style he'd adopt for the upcoming battle. "Still, it's a shame we never got along, huh?"

"If I win, you'll worship me as your new God and leave Death City to build me a shrine," gambled the blue-haired assassin.

"Well if I win, Rebellion gets to have a date with Tsubaki," replied the white-haired hunter with a smirk while he adjusted his fingerless gloves before putting on Beowulf's silver gloves over them.

"WHAT?!" said both Tsubaki and Rebellion. The latter added, "You moron, don't get me involved more than I already am!"

"Plus I won't allow it," added Artemis quickly.

The pair of Meisters looked at each other dead in the eyes in silence while a strong wind started to blow, causing Dante's coat and Black Star's scarf to start flying while they both unknowingly raised their power levels to their max. Thunder was starting to be heard every now and then, but the pair finally moved when the first lightning bolt flashed over the field.

* * *

Spirit and Sid had finally made it to where Black Star was being tended to by Nygus, Tsubaki, and Ivory, and Kid greeted them grimly.

"I'm sure you need no explanation as to what happened here," said the formally-dressed boy while pointing at the scene with his thumbs.

"Of course not," replied the redhead while he adjusted his tie. "How is he?"

"Alive, but not kicking," said the Shinigami while putting his hands in his pockets. "I never thought I'd see a fight this intense after the Battle of the Moon."

"The boy sure held well," commented Sid while looking at Dante, who was rapidly but naturally healing his wounds. "To leave Dante in this condition is simply impressive. Back in our day, we used to say he and his brother were invincible."

Kid looked back at his friend and then at the demon hunter, and shuddered. He knew he should've kept an eye on Black Star ever since the Battle of the Moon was over, for the hotheaded assassin's sole purpose in life was to battle and become stronger. Once the war was over and Black Star had had a good taste and experience of it, he looked like a lion in a zoo: an obsolete and almost useless creature. Death the Kid almost pitied his friend then, but held back because he, too, missed the orderliness of war, despite the apparent paradox in the thought.

* * *

Black Star threw one end of his chain-scythe at Dante, but the latter moved aside quickly as a simple evasion. The chain, however, twisted and kept going after the red-clad man like a laser-guided missile. The white-haired man smiled and pulled out Ebony and shot at the tip of the handle in such a way that the bullet deviated the weapon's blade elsewhere. Tsubaki, however, was relentless in her approach and turned once more to Dante, who pulled out Ivory as well and started shooting at the weapon that wouldn't stop extending its chain more than it could be physically possible. Every single bullet struck Tsubaki at different angles, but the blade ricocheted off all of them and kept going towards Dante. The hunter, however, wasn't even opening his repertoire of moves, and he pulled out Revenant and, dashing towards the incoming weapon, extended the shotgun and fired at point-blank range, returning Tsubaki to her Meister.

The blue-haired boy recovered the other half of his weapon and ran at full speed towards Dante, who brought out Cerberus in preparation for the expected close-range armed combat. Black Star, much to Dante's surprise, stopped in his tracks and grappled at Cerberus with the chain-scythe and, with surprising strength, yanked it off Dante's hands. The weapon fell to the ground, and Dante quickly started shooting at Black Star with his pistols. The assassin, though, moved at a superhuman speed to dodge the bullets and landed a kick at Dante's solar plexus, pushing him backwards a few meters.

"Gah!" Dante coughed, caught breathless from the kick. He quickly pulled out Rebellion and Artemis in his right and left hands, respectively, and started channeling his wavelength through the silver gun, which started to generate a pink orb of energy. "Artemis, lock on and prepare the Multi-Lock! Rebellion, get ready!" Once he said that, his wavelength and Rebellion's resonated and the claymore started to glow red. Black Star threw an end of the chain-scythe again while running towards his opponent, and Dante kicked it aside with Beowulf before aiming at the blue-haired ninja. "Ready?" he said.

"Ready, Dante! Fire!" shouted Artemis. Dante pulled the trigger faster than a blink and ten pink spheres emerged in front of him. At the same time, he held Rebellion in a reverse grip and swung the blade upwards, letting out a wave of his Drive attack. "Keep your lock!"

"On it!" shouted Artemis while the spheres started to dash towards their target.

Black Star smirked and muttered, "Tsubaki, Smoke Bomb Mode." His chain-scythe silently obeyed, and in his hand was now a golf-ball-sized smoke bomb that he threw to the floor to shroud himself in smoke before any of Artemis' bullets could hit him.

"Error! Error!" shouted Artemis to Dante. "I didn't take into account this scenario!"

"So what if she's like Pandora?" said Revenant, irritated. "Get a grip and think it through as always, Artie!"

"Acid Rain, Artemis!" said Dante while aiming his silver gun upwards and firing a few rounds, which separated and fell down as a pink laser rain. He quickly ran to pick up Cerberus, but was interrupted by a giant shuriken that flew from nowhere and almost took his head. "Dammit, I hate fighting ninjas!"

"Remember those Dreamrunner bastards we used to take out?" asked Ebony.

"I don't," replied Agni. "Was this before you picked us up?"

"Yeah, it was," answered Ivory. "I'm guessing Black Star knows a trick or two more than he let us know…"

"Will you stop talking about your romantic adventures with that moron and mind the surroundings?" said an angry Beowulf. "The boss isn't joking around here, you know!"

"I was gonna say something about the Houdini act, actually," muttered Dante with a smirk, "but Beowulf ruined the mood."

Dante's gloves and greaves lit up and he moved incredibly fast to pick up Cerberus, managing to dodge the incoming shuriken at the same time. He looked around and, noticing that the stands must be the only place where the blue-haired boy was throwing his weapon from, he took out Nevan.

"Say, Nevan, do you remember that ancient tune that they used to play in baseball games?" said Dante while tuning up.

"I know how it goes, but I wouldn't be able to tell you the chords," replied the purple guitar. "Sorry."

"Then let's play this one by ear," said the hunter while practicing a few chords that were drawing lightning bolts from the storm. When he finally found the notes he wanted, he started playing.

"Play ball!" shouted Rudra happily. "It's the top of the seventh, and the game is still tied to zero!"

"Gee, I wonder who's coming up to bat?" added Agni. "The Yankees need a good batter to at least get ahead in the game!"

"Wait, why the Yankees?"

"I like that team!"

"Why not Devils? It fits us more!"

"Okay, then…"

"Dante, incoming!"

Dante heard Rebellion loud and clear, and looked behind himself and saw the shuriken coming again. He quickly strummed on Nevan to call some bats to his side, and commanded them to find Black Star. As soon as he played, he leapt and pulled out Agni and Rudra; the white-haired man made the scimitars' pommels touch so the swords would become a single double-bladed weapon, and spun it to make a fiery twister that caught Tsubaki in it and returned her to where he noticed the bats flew off to, but she was now red-hot and spinning like a saw.

"Beo," called the Meister, "use the Geryon Effect! Hi-ho, Quicksilver! YAHOO!"

Black Star had commanded Tsubaki to quickly change modes to cool down more quickly, and he was now holding his ninja dagger when he noticed Dante disappear. Alarmed, he ran out of the stadium as fast as he could, trying to make sure it'd take a while for the half-demon to catch up. He was stopped just outside the stadium when a glowing fist sent him backwards into a wall.

"What took you so long, Star-kid?" asked Dante, who was smirking at the boy. "I was getting bored here, you know."

"SHADOW RESONANCE!" shouted the blue-haired boy as soon as he stood up. Dante, however, wasn't anywhere near there.

"Thanks, hot legs," said Dante to an attractive young woman with black hair and glasses that had served him some strawberry sundae with a wink and a blown kiss. "Mmm, this is one of the best sundaes I've ever had, babe!" said the heavily-armed man to the woman, who was returning to the kitchen after winking once more to the hunter.

"Are we seriously doing this, boss?" asked Beowulf, confused. "We're in the middle of a fight, you know…"

"I'm starving!" replied Dante with his mouth full of whipped cream and ice cream.

"And you look like someone jizzed on your face," added Nevan with a chuckle.

"Jizz? What is Jizz?" asked Agni, confused.

"Never mind that!" shouted Artemis. "We got incoming!"

"Goddammit…"

Dante grabbed the cup of his strawberry sundae and gulped the whole thing down before throwing it behind himself, grabbing Ebony, and firing backwards at the cup, shattering it. His opponent wasn't there, however. Black Star was standing just behind the red-clad hunter and kicked him in the back, sending him outside the building. Dante recovered quickly and managed to block the incoming blade with Agni just in time as well.

"The hell happened to his scarf?" asked Revenant, and Rebellion answered him.

"It seems Black Star and his weapon are in a Soul Resonance," replied the claymore. "By the looks of it, I'd say their resonance has properties of a Dark Assassin…"

"Then that'd make Beowulf more useful," analyzed Artemis quickly. "We need to get in close to be able to disrupt the resonance, though!"

"Make the plan while I have my fun here, huh, Artemis?" said Dante while he pulled out Rudra and, in a quick slash, sent a gust of wind in Black Star's direction. Cerberus barked twice and Dante said, "And will you stop mentioning Vergil already? He's not the opponent we're facing here; no matter how much you say you smell his stench!"

"TRAP STAR!"

"Huh?!" said Dante and all of his weapons at the same time. Suddenly, chains appeared from the ground and were about to wrap around the Meister, but Dante's reflexes were much faster than any human's. The man quickly used Beowulf's Geryon Effect and, appearing to stop time itself, quickly moved out of the way.

Black Star, however, seemed to be stepping on Dante's heels in terms of predicting the battle, and he quickly called, "Speed Star!" to be able to spot and pursue the hunter onto an apartment building's roof. "Tsubaki, enter Shadow Star Mode: First Form!"

"Black Star…" the girl's voice said while she transformed into a black blade with a long, shadowy chain. "Are we fighting to defeat Dante, or to kill him?"

"I'm an Assassin, Tsubaki," was Black Star's only reply, and he threw his weapon to grapple up to Dante's level.

Dante was awaiting the blue-haired ninja and started firing away with Ebony and Ivory as soon as the boy came into view, but the boy moved incredibly fast and started blocking all of the incoming bullets while approaching his opponent. As soon as Black Star was within range, though, Dante kicked the boy upwards, stunning him for just enough time for Dante to stop time and throw all of his weapons upwards, saying "Stylish Combo 782, people!"

Dante immediately grabbed Rebellion and started slashing away at his opponent before quickly delivering a Stinger and throwing the claymore back into the air. He then charged up Beowulf before slamming his fist into the ground and launching Black Star with the Volcano of light. The red-clad man quickly followed his target into the air and, grabbing Rebellion once again, slammed him back into the ground with a Helm Breaker attack; the attack was followed by another of Beowulf's Volcano attacks, and Black Star was back into the air, followed closely by Dante. Rebellion was back in Dante's hands and a quick slash juggled the target before Dante performed his diving kick known as Killer Bee, returning Black Star and himself to the floor, still holding onto Rebellion. While the blue-haired boy bounced on the floor, the white-haired man gave him no time to recover and slashed him with Rebellion once before launching him back up with his High Time attack and following him up again with another slash. Agni and Rudra came into Dante's hands and he performed his Sky Dance with them, which consisted of various slashes in the air and a downward succession of slashing front-flips that returned his opponent down. Dante reached the floor first, and he started rapid-firing kicks at unnatural speeds in his Beehive maneuver, which ended in an axe-kick that slammed into Black Star's skull and made him bounce face-first off the ground. The red-clad hunter rolled backwards and launched the black-wearing assassin with Rebellion before catching his guns and firing at the boy; he then performed a Stinger with Rebellion and jumped after his target, grabbing Agni and Rudra and performing his Sky Dance again. When he returned to the ground, Artemis landed in his left arm and he fired upwards to make the Acid Rain inflict some damage on Black Star while Dante launched him again with Beowulf's Volcano. The red-clad man jumped and attacked his blue-haired target with Rebellion's Helm Breaker before cancelling his landing with a jump from Black Star's falling body. Nevan landed in Dante's hands and he played a chord that kept him in the air slightly longer, and a ball of electricity and bats held the blue-haired boy in place on the floor while Dante threw Nevan back up and caught Ebony and Ivory in the air, aimed downwards, and started spinning while firing his Rain Storm of bullets. The white-haired man landed and immediately brought Black Star back up with a Volcano, followed by a Beehive attack (both with Beowulf). When the time was right, Cerberus and Revenant landed in his hands, and Dante leapt forwards while spinning sideways with Cerberus, unleashing icy hell upon Black Star with the Revolver, followed by Revenant's Fireworks. Now that the opponent was in position, Dante pulled out Rebellion and, saying "You're finished, kiddo," started delivering Stinger after Stinger multiple times into Black Star, finally charging up for a last, more powerful Stinger that sent his opponent off of the rooftop and crashing into the ground.

Dante started clapping his hands to dust them off, smirking confidently.

"That should put him off," he said before leaping down the building with his unequipped weapons following closely. As soon as he landed, he quickly caught and arranged all of his weapons before approaching Black Star, who had crashed into a parked car.

Black Star immediately opened his eyes and looked at Dante with rage slowly building up. He immediately stood up and kicked the car aside with surprising strength. "It seems I can't play around anymore," muttered the blue-haired assassin before holding his chained weapon in front of him. "I must get stronger if I really wanna defeat you, it seems…"

"Does that mean you're giving up?" asked Dante with a cautious glance at the boy's weapon, which started to emit a dark aura.

Black Star smirked evilly and said, "I said I need more power, but I already have more than enough to defeat you. Tsubaki, Shadow Star Zeroth Form."

The boy's shadow grew in size and turned into a sphere that engulfed him, and Dante pulled out his guns, ready to shoot once the boy became visible again. When the black sphere dissipated, however, Black Star wasn't there. A black tendril appeared from underneath Dante and held him by the leg while another one grabbed him by the neck. Rebellion instinctively jumped out from his strap and, grabbing Agni and Rudra, sliced the tendrils to set his Meister free.

"Thanks," said Dante, rubbing his neck.

"Don't thank me yet," said the black-haired man while handing Rudra to his Meister. "We're not done, so hand me my style."

"Doppelgänger it is, then," said the white-haired man while giving Ebony, Artemis, and Revenant to his bespectacled partner. "Get ready; we go incoming."

Standing back-to-back, Rebellion and Dante started slicing all of the shadow tendrils that appeared to trap them. Finally, Black Star appeared from beneath them, and Rebellion fired at him with Ebony while Dante did the same with Ivory. The boy, however, vanished in a puff of smoke, confusing Rebellion for a moment.

"It's a Shadow Clone," muttered Dante while adopting a samurai pose and looking around.

"Great," muttered Rebellion while pulling out Artemis. "You ready to lock onto a bullet, Artie?"

"Ready and waiting, Rev," replied the silver gun. Rebellion smirked and pulled out Ebony before firing upwards once; he immediately fired with Artemis, and the laser shot hit the pistol's bullet from the side, making the laser disperse all around the place and hitting Black Star, who was atop a lamppost.

"Gotcha," said Dante while he, with a slight movement of his wrist, made Rudra slice through the air and created a ball of wind that impacted the blue-haired assassin.

"Not bad, Mister Dante!" praised the cyan scimitar. "You made me slice the air like Mister Yamato!"

"Shaddup and get ready for a few more, Rudra," said Dante sharply while he made more air spheres slice into Black Star.

"We got another one here!" said Rebellion, who was sending waves of fire to another Black Star that was moving incredibly fast towards the pair.

Both Black Stars approached their opponents and started to fight them without the use of any weapons, which surprised Rebellion more than it did Dante. The white-haired man, using Beowulf, was successfully defending himself from all incoming attacks and landing a few counter-hits as well. Rebellion, however, was struggling to block all incoming attacks. Suddenly, a third Black Star appeared between Dante and Rebellion and placed a fist on each's back, stunning them and allowing the other copies to land successful hits on the pair. The central Black Star called out "Planet-Destruction Cannon!" and drove his mighty Soul Wavelength attack through his hands to both Dante and Rebellion, causing both of them to blast away into walls.

Artemis transformed from her weapon form to tend to Rebellion while Nevan did the same with Dante.

"Rebellion! Wake up!" called the purple-haired woman, worried. "We can't lose now!"

"Bring me my glasses, sweetheart; I can't see without 'em," replied Rebellion, half conscious.

"Hey, handsome," said Nevan, somewhat more relaxed. "Did you notice Artie seems to dig your sword?"

"Is that a penis joke, or are you talking about Rebellion?" asked Dante, slowly getting up.

"The latter, I guess," said the curvaceous redhead while looking at Artemis, who was handing Rebellion's glasses to him. Nevan then looked at all three Black Stars, who were reuniting with a fourth one and merging back with the original's shadow while a black katana appeared in his hand. "Looks like that kid doesn't feel any pain."

"Either that, or we're seriously rusty," replied Dante while he stood up. "It seems we'll need to improvise for this one, huh? My kinda fight," he added with a devilish smirk. He pulled out his nunchaku and put it on the ground. "Cerberus," he said, "keep an eye on the kid while I pick the rest of the guys up. If he starts to move and I'm not ready yet, bite or freeze his nuts."

The blue three-headed dog barked in acknowledgement, and Dante powered Beowulf up and went to pick up Rebellion, Artemis, Ebony, Agni, and Revenant. When he returned to his original position, Dante picked up Cerberus and faced Black Star, who hadn't moved from his place at all.

"Well, it seems you picked a good day to fight," said Dante with a smirk.

"I picked a good day to surpass the most powerful Meister in Shibusen," replied Black Star, returning the smirk. "Once I beat you, I'll find your brother and beat him too. That way, I'll be the most powerful student in Shibusen, and later the world's, history!"

"Stop talking about Vergil as if he was alive!" said Dante to both Cerberus—who had barked and mentioned the hunter's older twin again—and Black Star, losing his patience. "Mundus killed him after I defeated him in his Nero Angelo form!"

"Then that makes it easier for me," said the blue-haired boy, pointing his katana at the red-clad man. "I'll just have to beat you."

"Not in a million years, kiddo," replied Dante, who was now smiling. "I already beat you up pretty good; next time you'll stay unconscious for good!"

"You can't kill a god," replied the assassin, now battle-ready.

"Tsk, whatever," said Dante with an exasperated shrug. Black Star immediately slid forwards a few yards, going through Dante and slicing him up. "Gah! W-what?!" Surprised, Dante tried to pull his guns out to fire, but was stopped when a giant black shuriken came at him and hit him. Black Star leapt into the air and copied Dante's Killer Bee diving kick perfectly, landing it successfully and catching his weapon at the same time. Tsubaki then transformed into her Shadow Kunai mode, and the blue-haired boy started delivering quick but powerful cuts at his opponent before kicking him away into a wall.

"Dante, is now a good time to tell you to defend yourself?" said Rebellion, somewhat worried but mostly surprised.

"I guess now WOULD be a good time, don't you think?" asked Dante, who was starting to stand up and grab his scimitars to defend himself. Black Star, however, moved much faster and grappled his opponent with his black chain-scythe, pulling him back. The white-haired man took his chance and pulled on the chain to bring his opponent to himself.

Black Star, however, was prepared and commanded Tsubaki to turn into a smoke bomb, which she did immediately. This stunned Dante for an instant, which was more than enough for the assassin to appear behind him and deliver his Black Star Big Wave attack. While Dante was sent reeling, Black Star grabbed Tsubaki, who had turned back into her katana mode, and started slashing at the man. Dante was trying his best to defend himself, but his opponent was surprisingly agile and could predict an attack and block it.

"Tsubaki, Infinite Sword Style!" called Black Star once Dante could get some distance between himself and his opponent. A number of shadow blades appeared surrounding the assassin, and the blue-haired boy quickly went back to attacking Dante.

"Yes, I see those are Summoned Swords, pooch!" shouted Dante while pulling out Revenant and firing at the extra blades.

"Stop barking at the mutt, Dante," scolded Revenant severely. "We need to finish this fast!"

"Screw this!" shouted Dante, letting himself be cut both by Black Star's sword and his floating blades and grabbing the boy by the neck before slamming him into the ground. He then jumped backwards and shouted "Soul Resonance: DEVIL TRIGGER!"

Dante's once handsome features suddenly became engulfed in a red glow before transforming into more reptilian features; his red cape started to glow an intense hue while it transformed into the devil's tails/wings and his hands and feet became claws. His devilish smirk became a demonic smile, and his white hair became silver plates on his skull.

Black Star looked up to see the instantaneous transformation. It was at that moment that he realized… he'd need the power of God to help him now. Fortunately, in his mind, he already had that since he defeated the Kishin Asura—or at least played a major role in that battle. He quickly stood up and blocked the incoming kick from the demon that approached him at lightning speed. However, the kick was incredibly powerful and it sent him sliding backwards. Dante then appeared behind the boy and sent an orb of light towards the blue-haired boy, which exploded and blinded him for an instant. Instinctively, Black Star threw a smoke bomb to move to a better position where he could see Dante better. Once he did, he made Tsubaki return to her Uncanny Sword mode and, summoning the Infinite Swords, copied the Judgment Cut Dante had performed with Rudra earlier.

"This guy can imitate our every move!" said Revenant, surprised.

"Then let's do something he can't imitate!" roared the demon Meister.

Dante then leapt into the air and extended his wings before starting to shoot purple lightning bolts from his hands at the blue-haired assassin, who started to run for cover after sending the shadow blades towards the red demon.

* * *

Soul and Maka had heard a few blasts and, though they had initially dismissed them as some kind of prank involving fireworks and cherry bombs, they now decided to investigate. While the pair changed from their stay-at-home clothes to their usual outfits, they heard a knock on their door.

"Kid, Liz, Patty?" said Soul after opening the door and seeing who their guest was. "What's this about?"

"Where's Black Star?" asked the Shinigami's partners without further ado.

"Why, what happened?" asked Maka, who was adjusting her coat behind her white-haired partner.

"Don't you feel it, Maka?" asked the black-and-white-haired boy at the pigtailed girl. "It's like a pressure crushing on us again. The pressure of war."

Soul and Maka needed to hear nothing else, and they ran alongside Kid and his weapons outside, in search for their friend. While they ran, they saw a purple lightning bolt flash somewhere near DWMA; Maka and Kid used their Soul Perception and detected Black Star and Dante's huge souls clashing all the way past the school, near the other side of Death City. Another blast was heard as the group ran, which was now joined by Kilik, Ox, and their respective weapons, past the school. They could all hear the bangs and thuds from the battle, but Black Star and Dante couldn't be seen.

Maka instinctively called her partner into his weapon form, and Soul quickly obliged. The pair quickly stopped the rest of the group just before Black Star flew through a couple of buildings in front of them, followed closely by a red demon. The group all quickly looked at each other.

"The hell was that?" asked Kilik, surprised.

"Something was fighting Black Star," answered Ox, adjusting his glasses and holding his weapon partner in his hands. "We need to go help him!"

"No…" said Kid, who was now sweating nervously. He looked at Maka and said, "Maka, you saw him, didn't you…?"

"That was Dante," said the green-eyed girl with a nod. "We can't stop those two, even if we wanted to…"

"What the hell are you saying?!" said Soul, turning back into his human form. "Black Star's our friend! The least we could do is save him from getting himself killed!" With that said, the red-eyed boy started running towards where he last saw his best friend. Maka sighed and ran after her partner.

When Soul Eater had finally reached Black Star and Dante's battlefield, it was already too late. Their weapons were drawn, and they were rushing at each other with battle cries.

"Black Star! Dante!" shouted the Death Scythe desperately. "STOP!"

The pair didn't hear him, however, and the weapons sliced their targets. Black Star fell to the ground, unconscious, and Dante dropped on his knees, transforming back from his Devil Trigger form.

* * *

**LONGEST. CHAPTER. EVER.**

**glad to have pulled that off my chest~ :P anyways, in case you were wondering, it took us SEVENTEEN FULLY-WRITTEN PAGES for us to write in Word o-o I still can't believe it**

**still, sorry to have kept you waiting, but here's the real meaty stuff I was telling you about earlier in the series! :D did you enjoy reading this chapter~? I hope you did, cause it took us a lotta work and effort to put it together! Klaus had to play _Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3_ for about half an hour just to explain to me one of the combos Dante was gonna do in this battle, and then he went to play _Devil May Cry 3_ to explain the other things Dante could do! jeeee-zus~!**

**well, Black Star survived (no surprise there, though) but now what do you think is gonna happen between him and Dante? will they become fire-forged friends, or will the boy decide to pursue greater power?**

**We wanna hear from you~! Don't be afraid to leave comments, opinions, and critiques to this and the other chapters~!**

**~_Humbert_**


	12. Yamato

"Wake up, Star-man."

"What's the big idea?"

"Soul Resonance!"

"H-hey—!"

Black Star, who was still in his hospital bed a few days after his battle with Dante, was being forced into a Chain Resonance with Soul and Maka, who had entered the hospital wing with grim faces. The blue-haired Assassin looked at them, confused and asking for an explanation.

"The hell's this about?" he asked.

"Do you realize you've fought and very nearly defeated one of the most powerful Meisters in Shibusen?" asked his pigtailed friend austerely.

"I pretty much do that for a living, Maka," replied Black Star with a shrug. "What's this really about?"

"You delved too deep into Madness to win, Black Star," answered Soul, crossing his arms. "We're here to clean your soul again."

"This is ludicrous…" muttered the blue-haired teen, rolling his eyes. Maka and Soul looked at each other and giggled, confusing Black Star. "What's so funny?"

"You're using grown-up talk again, baby boy," teased the white-haired youngster with a smirk. "I think Maka's brains must be finally rubbing off on you after all these years!"

"Shaddup, Soul!" snapped the boy, raising his fist.

* * *

"C'mon, kid; just three more. That's good, now give me two… good."

"God-DAMN…"

It took Rebellion a bit of assistance from Revenant to return the bench-press bar back to its starting position, and the black-haired man sighed deeply and exhaustedly as he stood up from the bank and mopped his brow with his towel and put his glasses back on. Revenant shook his hand and congratulated his partner.

"Not bad," he said. "We'll keep you lifting 225 for about three more weeks so we can raise it to 230, okay?"

"Sure," replied the bespectacled man, who was still panting a bit. "Want me to help you there?"

Revenant, who had just finished adding weights to the bar, chuckled and shook his head, adding, "400 is dead weight to me, Rev."

"Suit yourself, then." Rebellion shrugged and went on to look for some dumbbells to keep exercising. He bumped into Kilik and, smirking politely, apologized. "Sorry about that."

"It's ok, Mister Rebellion," replied the dark-skinned youngster, returning the gesture. "Were you looking for something?"

"Yeah; where are the dumbbells?" asked the emerald-eyed man.

"That way," said Kilik, pointing at the other side of the gym.

"Thanks."

"No prob; by the way, how much do you weigh?"

"Oh, about 165." Rebellion then winked and added, "Though I guess we can add about ten more pounds when I see a cute girl!" After the comment, both he and Kilik pointed at each other and, nodding, smiled at each other in complicity.

"Oh, speaking of cute girls," said Kilik as he and Rebellion walked to where the dumbbells were located, "who's the purple-headed chick that always hangs around with you guys?"

"You're talking about Artemis?" said the green-eyed man, looking down at his shorter friend. "What about 'er?"

"Is she, like, single?" asked the boy in a slightly hesitant tone. "Cause I think I can pull her trigger, if ya know what I mean…"

Rebellion took off his glasses and started cleaning them with his sleeve, which was one of the few parts of his T-shirt that wasn't sweaty, before answering. "First of all, don't do any weapon puns with any of us; Agni and Rudra practically wasted all the library section dedicated to it on us. Second of all, she's a bit older than she looks, so you'll have to take that into account when you approach her. Last of all, she's outta your league."

Kilik looked confused at the raven-haired man and said, "Say what? Whaddaya mean?"

"Trust me on this one, kid," said Rebellion. "She doesn't really have a type; learned that one the hard way a few years ago. Plus she can get nasty when she wants to. Though you could do well with Ebby…"

"Who?"

"Ebony, the black gun." Seeing as Kilik didn't react, Rebellion decided to clear it up a little. "You know Dante has two guns, right?"

"Uh, yeah…" said the dark-skinned boy, putting a hand on his chin pensively.

"Well, the black one is Ebony, and the silver one is Ivory. Trust me, Ebony'll like you; she suits you better than Artie."

"Why're you telling me that?" asked Kilik, raising an eyebrow. "D'you like her, or something?"

Rebellion remained silent for a few seconds before answering, "That's irrelevant, considering I was just telling you an impartial evaluation on her. Besides, there's no right answer for your question, considering someone might be overhearing us and either squeal or groan at my answer."

* * *

Dante, Beowulf, Nevan, and the gun sisters were returning from a mission that had taken them around 12 hours to complete, if their total 9 hours of travel counted, and were chatting about how their mission had gone when a certain three-headed dog ran to them with its tail wagging happily.

"Oh, poochie!" said Ivory while petting Cerberus' back in greeting. "We missed you! How were the kids?"

"Pooch! Pooch! Where're you hidin'?" called Agni's voice, and the red-headed weapon came running into the group's view. The boy smiled and greeted them happily. "Mister Dante, Miss Nevan, Mister Beo, Misses Ebby and Ivy! Welcome back!"

"Heya, Agni," said Nevan happily while ruffling the boy's dreadlocks. "Where're Rev and the rest?"

"I think Mister Rebellion is in the gym…" said Agni while holding his chin pensively.

"Agni! Where're you?" said Rudra as he appeared from around a corner. When he saw his Meister and some of his fellow Weapons, he smiled widely and said, "Welcome back, guys!"

"Sheesh, we weren't dead, kids," said Dante while rolling his eyes with a grin. "Though the stench in that sewer almost murdered Nevan."

"Shaddup, Dante," replied Nevan while putting her hands on her hips. "I'm never going to another mission like that!"

"Well, you never know," said Beowulf with a shrug. "We might find ourselves going into another one without any other choice, you know."

"I think I'd rather die," muttered Nevan while she walked away from the group. She looked over her shoulder and noticed Ebony and Ivory were walking behind her. "Girls?" she said, confused. "Where're you going?"

"Oh, we're going to visit Black Star," replied Ivory. "I hear he's finally getting out of the hospital this evening!"

"Oh, well good for him," said the redhead while rolling her eyes. She didn't understand why the gun sisters still were attracted to him even after he was more than willing to murder Dante.

Fifteen minutes later, Ebony and Ivory finally found the hospital wing after getting lost once but managing to find a school map in a nearby bulletin board.

"I can't believe we took so long to get here," complained Ivory as the pair finally found the door to the hospital wing. She and Ebony were about to enter the room when the dark-skinned girl tugged at her fair-skinned sister and pointed at the end of the hallway.

The sisters noticed a tall, thin man with silver bangs that covered the left side of his face and a black elegant suit that made him look as professional as he was attractive. The girls, however, knew who the man was, and Ebony transformed into her weapon form and landed on Ivory's trembling hands; Ivory aimed at the man at the end of the hallway, who hadn't moved at all and still looked at Dante's guns with contempt. Suddenly, the door to the hospital wing opened and Black Star, Soul and Maka came out; Ebony reminded her sister not to get distracted.

"What is it, Ivy?" said Black Star, who immediately noticed the blonde was aiming her gun at someone. He followed her gaze and noticed the man at the end of the hallway and asked, "Who the hell is that?"

"Yamato…" answered Ivory, whose aim was starting to waver while the aforementioned man grinned at the pair and started to walk away. "H-hey! Get back here!" shouted the girl, who started to chase after him.

"Yamato?" asked Soul, confused, as he and his friends saw the girls run.

"The girls mentioned him before…" muttered the blue-haired assassin before his eyes widened and he chased after the girls.

"Yamato sure sounds familiar…" commented Maka, rubbing her chin in thought.

"Where'd you read it before?" asked the white-haired teen, looking at his green-eyed partner.

"I think that Yamato guy has something to do with Dante," replied the Meister, still in thought.

"He should," said Soul while rolling his red eyes, "otherwise his guns wouldn't be aiming each other at him…"

Black Star quickly caught up to Ebony and Ivory, who were chasing after Yamato, who had a fair head start. The blue-haired assassin called at the girls while extending his hands, "Ebby! Ivy! I can catch him!"

"What?" said Ebony once she noticed he was offering assistance as a Meister. "But we've never fought together before! Will you even be able to pull our triggers?"

"I know he can pull MY trigger anytime," teased Ivory with a giggle, and the fair-skinned sister threw the black gun into the air before transforming and landing into Black Star's hand before the assassin leapt and caught the black gun as well.

Yamato looked over his shoulder and saw a blue spiky head quickly approaching him, and he decided to use evasive tactics. He jumped out the nearest window and landed on a conveniently placed horizontal spike that protruded from the main building. Black Star followed closely, and he fired a few rounds at the silver-haired man, who leapt onto a column to evade the shots.

"Awesome, so you CAN pull our triggers!" said Ebony, impressed. "I wonder how it'd be if you made our wavelengths resonate…?"

"I ain't doing that," snapped the blue-haired boy. "Guns aren't befitting for a ninja, plus we're just chasing down this guy for… what reason, again?"

Suddenly, a ball of air slammed into the spiky-haired youngster and tore his shirt open, revealing a cut that went across his chest. The boy fell onto a balcony and decided to take cover to make sure he wouldn't get wounded again.

"What're you doing?" said Ebony. "You'll let him get away!"

"First of all, I have no idea why we're chasing him!" said the assassin, holding the guns in front of him. "Second of all, he sent me his wavelength remotely as a ball of air! I can't do that yet, so I don't know how to counter it! Third of all, he's just taking a tour of Shibusen and you decide to blow his head off? What the hell, girls?"

"Black Star, you don't know what he's done," replied the white gun.

"And I don't care," replied the boy. "We ain't fighting Yamato unless we have a reason!"

"You didn't have a reason for fighting Dante, though," muttered Ebony, slightly irked.

* * *

**Phew~! sorry for the little hiatus, readers, but we had finals and Christmas break made us laze around more than we expected XDDD**

**not to mention that we'd finished the first arc with chapter 11 and neither of us knows how to start story arcs... we usually do single-arc stories, so this is a first for us, ok? also, yeah, don't be surprised if this story seems to not want to end, okay~? ^^ I hope you like reading, cause this one might take a while to finish (don't worry; we WILL make it end XDDD )**

**so how'd you like this chapter? I know it's a breather episode, but we'd no idea how to continue after the epic battle in the last chapter... still, we wanna hear your opinions, so don't be afraid to tell us anything about it~! you can ask questions too, if you feel like something doesn't make sense or you got lost because of Klaus' messy style~~**

**~_Humbert_**

**Hey! My style isn't messy! I just try to cover a lot of bases at once...**

**-_Klaus_**

**excuses XDDDD**

**~_Humbert_**


	13. Adequate

"How adequate?!"

"Very adequate, I said."

"And you think his soul will suffice?"

"As I said, this subject is a monster; all he lacks is Demon blood in his veins."

"But if what you said about his Madness is true, then we needn't worry about that."

"Precisely. I'll contact you soon to give you my progress report; you should keep things working on your side as well."

"For Master's sake, I will."

* * *

Black Star, Ebony and Ivory walked toward where Dante had said he'd spend the evening, and the blue-haired Assassin realized they were going to Chupa Cabra's cabaret.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" called the boy, halting. The gun sisters turned around and looked at him, each raising an eyebrow. Black Star crossed his arms and said, "No way am I goin' in there!"

"And why not?" asked Ebony, rolling her eyes at her sister.

"I'm not eighteen until a year and a half from now! It's illegal for minors to enter!" The green-eyed boy took a step back, still looking serious.

The sisters rolled their eyes again and Ivory transformed into a gun and landed in her dark-skinned sister's hand; Ebony aimed the gun at the Assassin's forehead. "Well, then how about we threaten you to get your ass in there?"

Black Star scoffed. "I beat your dumbass Meister; what chance have you got?"

Ebony lowered the gun in her hand and sighed, defeated. Ivory returned to her human form and stood next to her sister, who was now glaring at the spiky-haired Meister. Black Star uncrossed his arms and smirked naughtily.

"However, I always wanted to peep in there, so I'll give it a whirl," he said before he quickly and stealthily made his way into the cabaret, followed by the gun sisters, who had to show their ID's to the guard at the entrance.

Chupa Cabra's was a lot bigger than the trio had expected. Even though there were a few sofas and tables in the lobby, there were much fewer people at that time than there were supposed to, and Black Star quickly found his way into a staircase that led into a much larger area that was supposed to be the basement. Ebony and Ivory reached the blue-haired boy while he gaped at the large area where he could see people seated in chairs and sofas of different shapes and sizes, gathered around tables where women were slowly moving their bodies and dropping different pieces of their already skimpy attires on the tables. The girls each stood to one side of Black Star, and both noticed he was drooling while staring at some of the strippers. Ebony snapped her fingers and whispered something to Ivory's ear behind the blue-haired boy's back, and her fair-skinned sister blushed before nodding slowly.

Ebony removed her tank top, revealing a pink bra, and stuffed it into one of her jacket's pockets while Ivory loosened her corset and let the straps of her dress dangle on her arms before each sister took one of Black Star's hands and started to lead him downstairs, much to the Meister's surprise. He looked at Ivory quizzically and she nodded at him, as if saying "Play your part." The trio passed next to some men that looked at them with odd expressions, and one even asked Black Star to share one of the sisters, but the Meister expertly replied that he'd paid good money for them and to wait until he was done having his fun. Suddenly the spiky-haired hothead took a detour.

"Wait, where are you going?" asked Ebony after tugging at the Meister's scarf.

"I just saw Maka's old man, Spirit," replied the boy, looking serious. "He knows how old I am, so we can't risk having him spot me and sending me out."

"But Dante…?" said Ivory, looking around.

"He's probably not around this area," answered Black Star, whose eyes were darting around the night club. "I can't see or hear him, so we should go further in."

"Oh, but let's do hurry up," pleaded Ivory. "This place is giving me the—"

"Talk about people you don't expect to find at this joint," said a voice behind the trio, and both sisters leapt into their companion's arms. Ebony looked over the boy's shoulder and recognized the person who had spoken.

"Nevan?! What the hell are you doing here?!" she asked, surprised.

"I work here sometimes," replied the curvaceous redhead, catching up to the trio, who was still walking through the club. "But I'm free now and I heard Dante was around here, so I was gonna check who he was playing around with. What about you kids, though?"

"We're looking for Dante," replied Black Star, turning to the attractive weapon. "Ebby and Ivy wanna tell him something that apparently can't wait for until he gets home."

"Considering he's here," commented Ivory, "I'd be surprised if he can make it all the way home without tumbling around like an idiot."

"Eh?" asked the Meister, looking at the fair-skinned gun. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means Dante often gets drunk," replied Nevan, entering a private chamber so the four could talk more calmly and locking the door behind her.

"Hey, remember that time he got so drunk he proposed to a mop?" said Ebony, suddenly giggling in amusement.

"He what?!" asked Black Star, surprised.

"It happened before he acquired me," explained Nevan, who was looking out the chamber's window. "Apparently he was partying too hard that night."

Ebony and Ivory, however, weren't interested in talking or looking for Dante anymore. Now that they were technically alone with the green-eyed young man, they were rubbing up against him. The Meister was protesting silently, but not violently; the girls insisted in their approach to the flustered boy. Ebony ran her hands over the boy's star-shaped tattoo and the long scar that ran through it, and Ivory was raising his shirt just enough for her to sneak her hand in to feel his well-defined muscles underneath. While the girls toyed with Black Star, Nevan didn't leave her spot, and she eventually called out, "Playtime's over, kids; I saw Dante on the other side of the—who the hell is he dancing with?!"

"Dante is what?!" asked Ebony while she and Ivory straightened themselves a bit while running to the door, with Black Star still in his seat, sweating nervously and trying to hide an evident hard-on. The music was still blasting, but the beat was much catchier now than it was before, and once the spiky-haired Meister walked out of the room, he couldn't help bobbing his head to the rhythm. The darker-skinned of the guns looked at the boy, and she smiled at him. "Say, Black Star! You wanna dance?"

"I don't really dance," replied the Assassin bashfully. "I always found it a waste of time; I train instead…"

"Oh, but dancing is great exercise!" intervened Nevan, who had caught the sisters' drift as soon as she saw them giggling while they left the room. "It's good for hand-eye coordination and for rhythm-keeping, among other things!"

"But I haven't learned to do it, though," commented the boy.

"You're a quick learner, Black Star!" answered Ivory, grabbing the Meister's hand and dragging him to the dance floor, which was between them and Dante. "Just let your blood flow and get your body to beat!" The messy-haired girl started to shake her hips to the rhythm, and Black Star stared at her before Ebony interrupted the little intercourse.

"If someone should teach Black Star how to dance, it should be me," said the short-haired girl, shoving her fair-skinned sister aside before she started to sway her arms and hips to the beat.

"Then how about we compete for it?" said Ivory, stretching a little before standing beside her dark sister. "Whoever Black Star finds most appealing wins!"

"Fine; I'll show you that having bigger tits doesn't make you more adequate!"

"Why am I involved in this…?" muttered Black Star while Ivory wrapped her leg around his waist and put a hand on his shoulder before she rubbed up her chest against his. The boy stood awkwardly while the dark-skinned girl glared at her sister dancing all over him, and he looked up to see Dante was holding a bottle in his hand and one of Blair's breasts in the other, as if he was weighing which impulse had more priority at that moment. The blue-haired chuckled before he noticed Ebony was now dancing on him, and she had her back to him. Ebony was holding onto the Meister over her shoulders, and she was rubbing her round buttocks to his hips, and Black Star wasn't exactly about to complain about that, either.

* * *

Kid was reading in the library with Liz and Patty walking around nearby when a person approached him.

"So, you're looking for the book of ancient legends?" said the man, walking slowly behind him. "The Tale of the Demon Warrior, Sparda?"

"That's not what I'm here for," replied the young Shinigami, shutting his eyes to contain himself from attacking the person who interrupted his quiet and peaceful read. "Leave me."

"A demon who impregnates a woman," continued the man, "who then bears twin sons. That's the story, isn't it?"

Kid aimed a hand at the person, halting him as his Soul's Wavelength silently called out to Liz and Patty to be ready for trouble. "Leave me," he repeated. "I won't tell you a third time."

The man adjusted his necktie before he continued walking towards the youngster. "My sincerest apologies, Lord Death," he said. "Is it possible for me to waste some of your time?"

"No thanks," snapped the striped-haired boy while he turned his back to the man. "I've no interest in dealing with someone as corrupt as you, Yamato."

"Corrupt?" said Yamato, scratching the back of his head in surprise. "Why, I've been behaving since Master left our side. Nero's been good to me, and I've returned all the favors I owed him."

"Then why aren't you with him?" said Kid without turning to face the gray-haired Weapon. "As I recall Dante said, you promised to mend your ways and reconcile for your deeds by staying with and learning from the younger, purer Nero."

"Ah," said Yamato, adjusting his tie once again. "But Nero has proven to be quite a handful for an older, more experienced man like me. Not to mention his purpose has been fulfilled and we no longer have a need for each other—"

"I have no patience to deal with you, Madness," said the Shinigami, turning to glare at the weapon with his intense golden eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I hear I have a contender for the title of 'Madness of Power,'" answered the well-dressed man simply as he popped his gloved knuckles. "I'd like to have a hearing with him, if possible."

"I've read reports recently about you," said Death, pulling a small notebook from his black jacket's inner pocket. "You don't seem to mind taking your wielders' souls with you, do you?"

"I only have one true wielder," said Yamato, still keeping his composure. "Anyone else who dares to lay a hand on me has no right to live… unless I find some adequacy or use to him."

After saying that, Yamato left the DWMA's library. Kid called to Liz and Patty quickly.

"What is it, Kid?" asked the taller Thompson, worried.

"Call a senior staff meeting," replied the boy. "We have a very big problem."

"Bigger than the fight between Black Star and Dante?" asked Patty.

"If what I think is true, then that'll be just a fireworks show compared to what's coming next…"

* * *

Rebellion dropped his spoon into his half-empty cup of ice cream and looked at Tsubaki, who was looking out the window.

"Worried about Black Star, are you?" guessed the man.

The raven-haired girl's cheeks flushed and she straightened up and looked back at her fellow weapon. "I-is it that obvious?"

"Well, you look to me like the kinda girl that worries about people," replied the bespectacled man with a shrug and a small grin. "But anyone can guess you only think about that guy all the time."

"I-I'm sorry…" said the girl while looking down at her lap.

"Don't worry about it," answered Rebellion with a smile that made all the other girls in the bar sigh while they saw him. "Listen, if you really have the hots for him, then you should tell him soon."

"I know, I know… But how should I tell him?"

"I dunno; I haven't had a crush in a long time!" Rebellion laughed at the girl's reaction. "Don't worry; I'm sure the right girl might come to me soon."

"Or guy?" asked Tsubaki mostly to herself, but Rebellion heard her and his smile turned into a grimace.

"Listen," said he, "I don't care how many times Ebby and Ivy have said I've 'penetrated' Dante; I'm not gay. Those incidents are mostly cause he was stupid enough to drop his guard and let me be taken into him."

"O-oh…" the indigo-eyed young woman blushed at the thoughts that entered her head at that moment, and she shook her head to dismiss them. "T-then that would make you more… adequate for some girl…?"

"What, is 'adequate' the word of the day, or something?!" asked the Claymore out loud, and everyone gasped and looked at him with their mouths agape and their eyes wide. "And why is everyone looking at me as if I literally smashed a wall down and came through it…?"

* * *

**Finally done with this chapter~~! I hope you guys missed us, cause I sure missed writing here XDDD anyways, thank you all for telling us your opinions on the previous chapter with Yamato's entrance into the playing field~~ as you may guess, Nero won't be in this fanfic... :P (sorry but Klaus ain't really fond of him, and he contributed a lot for this chapter T.T ) but still, what do you think will happen next? how will Dante react to the fact that Yamato is messing around in Death City?! We'll know that in the next chapter, of course~ ewe also, whaddaya think is the "Yamato Treatment" that Rebellion had described in the first chapters~? I hope we get to see it, cause I have no idea what it might be about XDDDD speaking of Rebellion, it looks like Dante forced him to fulfill his gamble with Black Star, huh? .w.**

**stay tuned for the next chapter~~!**

**~_Humbert_**

**PS. Klaus and I will be VERY DAMN BUSY this semester, so the chapters and fanfics we'll be publishing will be few and far between :( sorry, fellas...**


	14. The Search Begins

It was an oddly warm night in Death City when Beowulf was walking down from the bookstore with Artemis, both talking eagerly about the books they had bought and hoped to read. The grey-haired man had removed his fur coat and rolled up his sleeves while he carried more than half the books he and the purple-haired woman had purchased, and he was still unsticking his eye patch from his face every now and then. Artemis decided to change the subject to try to distract herself from looking at the nasty scar that occupied the place where Beowulf's left eye should be.

"So where did Dante say he was gonna be tonight?" she asked, trying not to look at Beowulf's scars.

"Chupa Cabra's," answered Beowulf shortly while he adjusted his eye patch yet again, attracting the passersby's gaze. "I still dunno why the boss prefers to distract himself with the feminine body when there're many other things he can do, though."

"Well, you know Dante," replied the bespectacled woman with a shrug. "Once a ladies' man, always a ladies' man."

"Though Lady doesn't seem to wanna share him," chuckled Beowulf before he let out a sneeze. After Artemis wished him blessings, the scarred man's phone rang, and he quickly picked up, saying "Yes?"

"Gesundheit," replied a man's voice, and the call ended there. Beowulf's eye widened while he put the phone back in his pocket, and Artemis looked at him, concerned.

"Who was that?" she asked, noticing her companion's expression. "What happened?"

"I think I know that voice," answered the grey-haired man, looking around nervously. "He only called to say 'Bless you,' though…"

"That's kinda creepy…" The Laser Gun shuddered, also looking around. "Are you sure it's not just a prank call?"

"If it was, they had a damn good timing," replied the Light Armor, who was now sweating nervously while he and his partner resumed their walk back to their apartment, although their step was now lighter. Suddenly, they bumped into a pigtailed girl and her white-haired partner.

"Oh, excuse me," said Maka, bowing a little before realizing whom she had bumped against. "Oh, Artemis! It's been a while!"

"How's it going, Maka?" replied the braided woman, quickly changing her expression so her friends didn't notice the slight worry that was clouding them a few seconds ago.

"Well, you know," said the sandy-haired girl with a slight cock of her head to the side, "business in the other branches is going better; I've a trip to England to check on the Eastern Europe division before heading on a mission in Spain next month."

"Oh, I love Spain! It's so lively!" said Artemis, smiling and clapping a little in excitement.

"I know!" replied Maka with an equally wide smile. "Though personally, I prefer Puerto Rico to spend some vacations in…"

While the ladies talked happily to each other, Soul looked at Beowulf and at the large bag of books. The red-eyed boy looked at the gray-haired man and nodded silently with a grin at the man.

"You read a lot?" asked Soul Eater.

"Not as much as my friend here," replied Beowulf, "but yes, I do. I find it distracting from the boss's shenanigans every once in a while."

"So Dante is a naughty boy, too?" chuckled the Death Scythe, showing his unnaturally sharp teeth. "How'd you meet him?"

"Well… Let's just say it had to do with his old man."

* * *

_"That stench… I know it!"_

_The white-haired boy raised his arms and took a sniff, never looking away from the winged monster that had landed in front of him. He then rolled his eyes, smirked, and said, "Gimme a break; next time I'll try and wear some cologne, okay?"_

_"It's the stench of betrayal! The odor of that accursed Sparda! I will annihilate every last blood relation to Sparda!" The monster roared, also baring its fangs at the youngster that took a few steps back after one of the Lightbeast's claws almost reached him._

_"A son cleaning up his dad's mess, huh? Where've I heard this story before…?" said Dante, pulling out his guns with a smile._

* * *

"And he blinded me, forcing me to retreat," finished the scarred man.

"Just like that?" asked Soul, scratching his head in confusion. "You wussed out on him and he got you?"

"Not exactly…" said Beowulf, moving his head from side to side with a small shrug. Both males looked at their companions, who were still talking about books more than anything else, and they decided to walk out on them, headed for Dante's apartment to leave their purchase there.

When they reached the apartment, Soul noticed it was much bigger than the standard apartments—obviously because there were 11 people living in it. When he and Beowulf entered the place, he saw Agni and Rudra playing video games happily together, yelling at each other in the way brothers do when they compete; Revenant was there as well, and he was chatting with Cerberus in the kitchen while at least one of the dog's heads panted happily, waiting for its meal.

"I'm home, gentlemen!" called out Beowulf happily, and the present residents greeted him in their own way. "I also brought Soul Eater to visit us!"

"Hey, guys," said Soul, waving at the boys who had paused the game to look at the newcomer and at Revenant and Cerberus, who were both munching on some DFC (Death Fry Chicken) that was leftover from the night before.

"Soul Eater!" said Agni, running to fist-bump with the white-haired boy. "It's been a while!"

"Indeed, Agni," said Soul happily before turning to Rudra, who was still holding his controller and waiting for Agni. "What, no 'hello' or anything, Rudra?"

"He's been losing against me for, like, the last hour or so," chuckled the red-haired boy while he led the Death Scythe to the living room. "Rudra, bro, you can at least be a gracious host!"

"Right, sorry," muttered the cyan-haired boy before he shook Soul's hand. "I can't seem to master these controllers… it's not the same as I'm used to."

"What are you used to, then?" asked Soul, curious.

"I'm more of a PC gamer myself," replied the Wind Scimitar, looking back at the screen. "A Keyboard and Mouse set is so much easier than this stuff!"

"Really?" asked the Death Scythe, crossing his arms and with genuine interest. "Funny, Black Star also plays in his laptop mostly, though that's cause he can't afford consoles or games."

"Torrents, then?"

"Torrents indeed," replied Soul with a chuckle.

* * *

Maka and Artemis were still talking about the half of the books the latter was carrying when they noticed they were alone.

"Why, that asshole, Soul!" growled Maka, irritated.

"Not very gentlemanly, coming from them," commented Artemis, removing her glasses to clean them. "D'you think they went to your place?"

"Knowing Soul," replied the pigtailed Meister, "they probably did. Shall we go check on them, then?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," said the braided Weapon before the pair walked to Soul and Maka's apartment. They commented on how men these days had no chivalry and such, and also on how some men were so attractive but dense relationship-wise. Maka pulled out her apartment keys from her coat's pocket and was about to open the door when she and Artemis heard some odd noises.

"The hell is going on in there?!" said the sandy-haired girl, placing her ear on the door to hear the moans more clearly. What she heard was beyond disturbing:

"Nyah~ Oh, fuck yeah, take me right there~~! Ahhn~" said a feminine voice loudly, and the sound of what was unmistakably a spank was heard. The female moaned again, "Ohh~ Yes, spank me harder~ I've been so bad!"

A man's voice replied to the moans. "Yes, you have. And I'm here to punish you, you little minx!" The sound of skin slapping quickly against skin was heard more loudly, and Maka's jaw fell even lower.

"A-aahn~~! Oh, my god~! I'm in heaven, nyaah~~!"

"No, Blair; you're in Hell, and I'm the Devil!"

"Y-yes, you are~~ You're dragging me so low I can't consider myself nothing more than your pet~!"

"Oh, yes you are, baby~ And you're rockin' it!"

"What… the… fuck?!" muttered Artemis, who had also stuck her ear to the door and was wearing a disgusted face. "I can't believe he wouldn't even have the decency to introduce that bitch to us!"

Maka's green eyes were fixed on the door, however, and she looked horrified. "N-no way…"

"What is it, Maka?" asked the purple-haired woman, looking at her shorter companion.

"That's no bitch," replied the girl, not looking away from her door. "That's a cat."

"Well, I ain't gonna get technical on you now," said Artemis with a shrug, but Maka interrupted her again.

"No," she said. "I mean Dante's literally fucking a cat!"

"Eh?"

"Blair is a magical cat that can transform into a human…" explained the Meister quickly. "But she's still a cat!"

Both girls looked at each other with stone faces, not saying a word for about twenty seconds. There was a sound of something shattering, Blair's giggle, and Dante's seductive growl, which made Maka's face flush at the thought of the Demon Hunter dancing the horizontal tango. Artemis noted the shorter girl's expression and cleared her throat, saying, "Well, um… should we leave those two to their stuff…?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah… um," Maka and Artemis moved around, trying to shake the awkwardness off while Blair's moans became screams of pleasure and the sound of a sofa being crushed under too much force was heard. Maka finally rubbed her temples and said, "Ugh, let's just get outta here…"

"Yeah…"

Both girls turned around to head to Dante and his weapons' apartment when they bumped into a certain four people they didn't expect: Black Star, accompanied by Ebony and Ivory, and Nevan. The blue-haired young man was the first to speak in surprise.

"The hell are you doing here, Maka?" said he, scratching his head in surprise.

"Well, technically I live here, Black Star…" replied the pigtailed girl, resisting the urge to pimp-slap him for his stupidity.

"Technically?" asked Nevan, looking at Artemis for an explanation.

"Well, the apartment's occupied for now," replied the purple-haired weapon, crossing her arms. "One of its habitants decided to lock the door on us."

"What are YOU doing here, though?" asked Maka, looking at the four suspiciously. Ebony was still showing her bra underneath her open jacket, Ivory's breasts were more than half-exposed inside her open corset, and both sisters and Black Star were sweaty for no apparent reason.

"We're looking for Dante," answered the redheaded woman quickly. "We lost him at Chupa Cabra's and it took us a while to track him down to this… building…" Nevan's eyes widened when Artemis made a quick gesture with her lips, pointing them towards the door in the middle of the hallway. "No way…"

"What is it, Nevan?" asked the gun sisters, looking at the curvaceous woman, who was now wearing a slight grimace. "Is Dante with that chick he was dancing with in the Club?"

"What were YOU doing in the club, though, Black Star?" asked Maka, who put her hands on her hips and looked at the green-eyed boy dead in the eye. "Aren't minors not supposed to go there?"

"I snuck in," said the Assassin with a confident shrug. "It was easy, plus Ebby, Ivy, and I were looking for him for a while to tell him… what, again?" he directed his gaze to the sisters, and Ebony snapped her fingers quickly.

"That's right!" said the dark-skinned girl, looking a bit more alarmed now. "Artemis, Yamato's in town!"

"WHAT?!" asked the braided woman and the redhead at the same time. Nevan continued, "Why didn't you say that sooner?!"

"We needed to tell Dante first, to see if he'd consider it a threat or not…" answered Ivory, playing with her index fingers.

"Is Nero around?" asked Artemis, adjusting her glasses. "Maybe the little moron just came for a visit and Yamato got lost?"

"No," replied Ebony, turning serious. "Nero didn't seem to be around, plus Yamato attacked us!"

"Oi," interrupted Black Star, crossing his arms and frowning, "I don't mean to interrupt, but we chased him first, so he had a right to defend himself."

"Is that so?" asked Nevan, looking at the sisters, both of whom looked down and nodded slowly. "Girls, I'm disappointed. I thought you'd at least say hi to him for me."

"He was observing Black Star in the hospital wing, Nevan," noted Ivory. "I don't think he wanted to ask you out again…"

"Darn, and he said he'd miss me," said the redheaded woman rolling her eyes, continuing the irony. All of her partners crossed their arms, and Nevan then added, "Fine, but you girls could've texted us, or something."

"We… didn't think of that," said Ebony, looking down. Ivory looked like she'd just been slapped with a cold dose of reality, and she looked down too.

* * *

"He came to you?"

"Aye, and even though he seemed calm and composed, I noticed the Madness that was emanating from him."

"How come you weren't affected?"

"Believe me, Professor Stein, I was."

Kid had called for a faculty meeting in his late father's office and Stein, Marie, Sid, Nygus, and Azusa were all looking at each other worriedly when the office's mirror lit up and Tezca Tlipoca appeared on its surface.

"Sorry I'm late," said the masked man with his Latino accent. "It took me a while to find a good mirror to transmit in. Bathrooms are horrible!"

"It's okay, Tlipoca," replied Stein, whose hands were in his coat's pockets.

"What'd I miss?"

"Remember Dante and Rebellion?" said Azusa, crossing her arms.

"Oh, yeah; the guy that had the emo black hair?" said Tezca with a chuckle. "I remember he used to hit on you a lot, but you preferred his weapon Rebellion."

"You liked Rebellion, too?" said Marie, looking at her friend.

"It's in the past now," snapped the bespectacled woman, whose cheeks flushed. "Dante's looking a lot better now, though…"

"We're talking about Yamato here, you know," commented the young Shinigami aloud, and Sid cleared his throat.

"That's right," said the zombie. "We shouldn't dwell too much on the past when the present has so much importance."

"Oh, you said Yamato?" asked the person in the mirror. "Never really liked him; what about him?"

"He's hanging around the city, apparently," answered Nygus. "He came to Kid and said he'd… what did he say?"

"He wants a meeting with Black Star." Death the Kid adjusted his shirt's cufflinks while sighing. "Honestly, though, if it was only just a meeting, I'd've allowed it. However, I saw in his soul a strong sense of purpose, as if he was set on doing something very important to him. Not to mention I read reports that after Vergil's disappearance, many people wielded him and lost their souls to him until a young man named Nero partnered up with him; though that was only temporary."

"So all we need to do is find Black Star and make sure he's safe?" asked Marie, rubbing her belly. "Seems simple enough."

"You don't know how much Yamato's changed," replied Kid severely, and Stein took off his glasses to clean them. "His soul practically oozes with the Madness of Power, almost on par with Black Star's. I didn't know Vergil, but I assume his catchphrase must've been 'I need more power!' if they influenced each other as deeply as Dante influences his weapons."

"Though Dante's a nice guy," interrupted Tezca, shrugging. "I think his weapons would have more liberty than Vergil's, in any case. Vergil was a bit of a control freak when we studied together… kinda like you, Azusa."

"Be grateful you're in a mirror, Tlipoca," snapped Azusa while adjusting her glasses with a click. She then turned to the rest of the staff and said, "Well, for now, all we need to do is keep a lookout for Yamato, and make sure Black Star doesn't find him—"

"Wait," interrupted Stein. "I'm starting to think we're too late for that."

"How come, dear?" asked Marie, looking up at her husband.

"When Black Star fought Dante and lost, the kid said he'd gain more power to defeat him," explained the stitched man while turning his bolt with a loud cranking noise. "He'd been more reserved about his might before that, so I assume his newfound lust for power must have to do because Yamato found him already."

"Then we need to find Yamato, and quickly," said Sid. "We can't risk those two meeting again. We don't know what might happen next…"

"I'll have Maka monitor the city with her Soul Perception," added Stein quickly. "She could track the Kishin's Fear wavelength all the way to the Moon thanks to her resonance with Soul Eater, so I trust she'll be able to sense a second Madness of Power wavelength within the city."

"But we still don't know what he's been trying to do, guys," said Azusa. "So remember not to hurt him; we'll only approach him to interrogate him civilly."

"I dunno if Dante is aware of his brother's weapon hanging around," added Marie, "but we should give him a heads-up just in case. Maybe he's more aware of Yamato's intentions than we are, so we must count on him to find him as well."

"We should also tell Spirit," noted Kid. "The imbecile must be out partying again, and he missed the meeting again."

* * *

**Finally~! I feel like it took us way too long to post this chapter but college is a bitch plus we're working on a research project (and no we're not getting paid unfortunately XP ) and we're pretty much losing a lotta time studying and shit instead of writing for you guys ;-; but here it is~! about time, too~ Yamato's around, and nobody knows where he vanished off to! that katana's as dodgy as that one skinny kid that beat everyone in dodgeball back when I was in 8th grade XDDDDDD**

**still~! Dante hooked up with Blair?! ...was she a virgin? I don't know, I just work here :P anyways, I feel bad for Maka and Artemis... poor girls had to hear all that stuff (and yes, girls DO say that shit when having sex) o-o what else...? oh, yeah, and Black Star was hangin' out with Ebony and Ivory and stuff looked kinky XDDDDD poor Tsubaki has no idea what's going on, though, does she? .3. we'll find out in the next chapter!**

**~_Humbert_**

**Also, in case you guys do ask, Dante IS doing illegal stuff with Blair, if we're going to get technical.**

**-_Klaus_**


	15. A Quick Election

Dante's eyes were hit by a stray sunray, and he covered his face with his hand while his other hand stroked last night's date's hair… or fur, to be more precise. His eyes widened in shock and he shook his head to clear the headache that was making his brains feel squished. The white-haired man looked down at his stomach and noticed there was a purple cat sleeping happily on him.

"Damn, what the hell happened last night…?" Dante stood up, making sure to gently place the feline on the bed as he walked around the destroyed apartment. "I remember the club, the hot girl… and then what; did I get to nail her?" The man grabbed his red coat and put it on, remembering the name of the woman he did the previous night. "Ah, Blair! That's her name…! Um, Blair?" Dante called out to the purple haired woman nervously, hoping she hadn't left.

"Yes, Dante~?" came the woman's voice, and the room's door opened, and the cat that was lying on Dante's stomach came out, yawning with a cute face. Blair winked at Dante and said, "Thanks for last night~! It was—"

"A hell of a party…" Dante's left eye twitched, and he took a step back. "Are you really Blair?"

"Yes, silly~" The purple cat glowed for an instant, and where it was now stood the buxom woman that had destroyed the apartment with the now terrified white-haired man in their frenzy. "I'm just a cat with a ludicrous amount of magical power~"

Dante wasn't there anymore.

Dante was screaming his lungs out while he ran to his apartment, and when he entered, he woke up all of his weapons.

"Dude, do you HAVE to set the alarm this early on a Sunday?" muttered Rebellion when the red-clad man jumped into his bed and started screaming into the pillow to muffle the noise. The black-haired man took a sniff at his Meister and muttered, "Ugh, another hangover…? Really, Dante, you never learn, do you?"

"Shaddup," Dante said loud and clear even with his mouth inside the pillow. "I can't believe it…"

"Did you read all the messages we sent you since last night?" asked the green-eyed man, crossing his arms and looking at the bawling man in his bed.

"Messages?" Dante raised his cyan eyes from his bed, looking at his partner.

"Yes, you idiot!" Rebellion seemed unpleased. "Yamato's in town!"

"WHAT?!" Dante jumped from the bed, and all signs of a hangover he had instantly vanished. "Why the hell didn't you say so sooner?!"

"We tried," said Ebony and Ivory, entering the room, "but you were too busy nailing Blair. And would you pipe down? The whole place could hear you from about two blocks away."

"Blair?" Rebellion tied his hair back into his usual ponytail and looked at Dante, squinting. "Who the hell is she?"

"I don't wanna talk about it…" said Dante, looking down and clenching his fists.

"Bad luck with women, as usual?"

"Just when I thought my luck was about to change, too…"

"Well, you WERE drunk…" muttered Ebony while rolling her brown eyes. "Anyways, the Shinigami wants to talk to you personally, so take a shower, cause he's bound to arrive anytime soon."

"R-right," Dante rushed out of the room.

"What do you think that Blair chick did to him?" asked Rebellion to the gun sisters while putting on his glasses. "Must've been pretty bad if he looked so down at the mention of her."

"We don't know," replied Ivory with a shrug, "but maybe Nevan or Artemis knows; they seemed more aware of what went on."

"Poor Dante needs to learn to keep it in his pants," said Artemis, who had overheard most of the conversation.

"He never really did, though," chuckled Ebony. "I still find it funny that Lady shot him in the head after he saved her life and delivered a pickup line."

"That was years ago, and you still remember that?" said her sister, amazed. "I can't even remember what we did last summer!"

"But what's so odd about this Blair bitch?" said Rebellion impatiently.

"She's not a bitch; she's a cat," replied Artemis, reciting what Maka had said the previous evening.

"Whatever—"

"Dante fucked a cat, Rev. Bestiality," the purple-haired woman took off her glasses and giggled. "How would you react if you realized you nailed a magical cat?"

"I'm betting you wish you were that cat, if that happens," whispered Ivory, earning her a smack in the head from the braided woman.

"Shaddup," snapped Artemis with a slight blush. Rebellion raised an eyebrow and the guns giggled at their red-faced companion. "I-I'm just saying, Rev—"

"You were clear enough already; you don't need to tell me again." Rebellion said it so bluntly that Artemis was taken aback, and she yelped in surprise. The man stood up from his bed and chuckled, "Though now I have something else to remind Dante whenever he fucks up good…" before leaving the room.

Ebony and Ivory looked at Artemis disapprovingly, and the Laser Gun said, "What?"

"We thought you were better than that, Artie," said Ebony while shaking her head.

"B-better?"

"You look cute when you get shy, but Rebellion isn't really into shy girls," explained Ivory while crossing her arms. "We know him better than you do, so listen to us."

"Since when have you liked him, though?" Ebony inquired. "I mean, the fact that you LIKE someone is… kinda new."

"J-just a few months," answered the older woman while fidgeting with the bottom of her T-shirt. "We work well as partners, but I didn't really have… you know…"

"Romantic interests?" Ivory looked at her sister with a smirk, and Ebony returned it. "We could help you with that."

"…but I'll have to help you too, right?" Artemis rolled her purple eyes. "It's so cliché, I should've seen it coming…"

"It's pretty interesting that you don't know how to handle a guy you like," commented the dark-skinned sister. "You can handle everything else quite well…"

"Whaddaya want help with?" asked the taller woman.

"Black Star," said the sisters in unison before glaring at each other.

"Really…?" Artemis shook her head. "I don't think you girls deserve him; he's not that kind of guy…"

"Don't you dare discourage us, Artie!"

* * *

Maka was irate when she saw the state the apartment she and Soul shared was in. Soul wasn't pleased, either, but at least he was taking it better than his Meister. The green-eyed girl was so angry that she started crying on his shoulder, and the red-eyed boy was patting her back comfortingly.

"I… I can't believe… he'd do this much…" Maka said, sobbing and biting her lip.

"It's ok, Maka; we'll get back at him somehow," said Soul, still trying to fully comprehend the situation. He and his partner had spent the night at Black Star and Tsubaki's place, but since there weren't enough rooms, Soul had to sleep on the floor until Maka invited him to accompany her in the couch. When they returned in the morning, they saw the door open and the place was ransacked almost beyond recognition. The sofa was crushed, the tables were broken in several places, the bookshelves were toppled over and the books were scattered all over the ground, Soul's electronic piano was on the floor with a few loose keys, and what was unmistakably Blair's underwear was still laying on the TV. A certain purple cat walked over to them and purred against Maka's boot as her greeting. The Death Scythe looked down at the animal and said, "Hey, Blair; how was your night?"

"Oh, it was hellish~" replied the cat while wagging her tail happily. "I've never enjoyed myself so much before!"

"That's good to hear," said the boy while still patting his Meister's back. "Good thing loser pays for the expenses…"

"Loser?" the feline's golden eyes widened at the weapon's words. "I-I don't think I have enough…"

"What's that supposed to mean, Blair?" Maka wiped her eyes as she glared at the magical creature, who turned into a human and was now sitting with her legs crossed and fidgeting with her skirt with a tinge of red in her cheeks.

"W-well, I came first… and second, and third, and fourth, and—" said the golden-eyed woman, but Soul interrupted her.

"Okay, we get it," he said, raising his open hand to stop her retelling of the previous night's events.

"I'm gonna murder him…" said Maka.

"For what, making Blair the happiest woman alive for one night?" asked Soul, raising his eyebrows.

"MAKA CHOP!"

"Fuck!" Soul's head was steaming where the book landed on his head. "Why the hell did you do that?!"

"Cause Dante trashed our place, you nincompoop!" shouted Maka, and her voice broke when the insult was delivered, and she started to cry on the broken table again.

Soul sighed, knelt beside his partner, and put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll find a way to make him pay for all this."

Maka looked up with a flame in her emerald eyes that intimidated even Soul, and she smiled wickedly while saying, "Oh, I already did."

* * *

Black Star was snoring softly in his bed when Tsubaki entered the room quietly and gently shook him awake.

"Black Star?" she said softly and endearingly. "It's half past noon; you should wake up…"

"Mmmph, I need more power…" muttered the boy, turning around in his sleep. Tsubaki's indigo eyes looked away from the blue-eyed boy in front of her, saddened by what he just said.

"Black Star…" she muttered softly, and she walked away from the room just in time to hear the doorbell ring. "Oh? Who could it be? I don't remember calling the guys to come visit." The raven-haired girl quickly walked towards the apartment's entrance and opened the door, but nobody was there. Confused, the young woman turned around and had her mouth covered by a young man with a green tattoo around his right eye and long blue hair tied back.

"I have her; take him now," said the intruder to another man who had quickly stepped into Black Star and Tsubaki's room, and the girl quickly overpowered the youngster holding her and immobilized him before running towards the man whose long gray hair swayed in the wind that came in from the open window. The younger of the men called out, "Yamato! She's stronger than we thought!"

"Hmph, as if that matters," replied Yamato, extending his hand towards Tsubaki, and the girl stopped in her tracks. She didn't know why, but Yamato's presence was overwhelming to her. Yamato leaned towards the sleeping boy, using what seemed to be his cane for support; meanwhile, Tsubaki figured that it must've been his Soul Wavelength that kept her at bay, as if he could create a barrier with his own soul. "Pleasure to finally meet you, Black Star," said Yamato softly towards the now waking boy.

"Mm? Who the hell are you?" asked the spiky-haired teen, confused. "You wanna pick a fight with the man who'll surpass the gods?"

"Though it would be a pleasure," answered the well-dressed man coolly, "I'm afraid I must decline; our time here is limited unless you make a deal with us."

"Deal?" asked both Black Star and Tsubaki at the same time. "What kinda deal?"

"I can promise you the ability and freedom to surpass the gods and rule them ten times over," replied the man with a soft, persuasive tone. "In exchange, my brother-in-arms and I will… service you for the time being."

"What's the catch?" asked Black Star quickly while rubbing his eyes. "This sounds great and all, but last time someone made big promises to me it didn't work out."

"The catch, huh?" Yamato looked at Tsubaki with an eerie expression before answering the boy's question. "The catch is that neither you nor your lady will speak of this event, or of Force Edge and me. Also, the final catch will be your exquisite-looking soul…"

"Soul?!" said Tsubaki, horrified, and she turned to her Meister. "Black Star, don't do it—!"

The man named Force Edge had appeared behind her and knocked her out with a swift blow. Yamato looked disapprovingly at his younger companion and said, "You do realize you probably just made one of the most clichéd moments in dramatic scenes…?"

"Sorry," replied the Blade of Sparda, Force Edge. "But I'm afraid we can't have the boy hesitate now; it's a simple yes or no question, Black Star. Answer it quickly, please."

"Hey, you're giving me a tough question here," snapped Black Star angrily while looking at Tsubaki's unconscious body on the floor. He quickly grabbed Yamato's cane, which he realized was actually a katana's scabbard, and quickly beat Force Edge to the ground. "That's for hurting my partner. Nobody hurts my partner!" declared the Assassin before turning to the taller man. "You, Mamato—"

"Yamato," corrected the gray-haired man.

"That. You say you're gonna grant me all the power in the world; will that include the power to stop Death itself?"

"Are you really that afraid to die…?" said Yamato, grabbing his scabbard and leaning on it toward Black Star with a slight glare from his silver eyes. "You've never tried it, have you?"

"Too much trouble," replied the green-eyed boy with a shrug. "I take a bunch of evil souls, but they'll never take mine!" he added with his trademark cocky grin.

'Tsk, he sounds just like him,' thought Yamato with disgust. 'Hopefully, we'll be able to change that around…'

"Anyways," Black Star extended his hand. "I'm the great Black Star! If you become my partner, we'll stand a better chance against Dante than Vergil ever did; I beat him once, you know!"

"Is that so?" asked the gray-haired man sarcastically before leaping and landing perfectly into his scabbard as his Katana form. "Well, then I recommend you train with me before we go conquer the world. Are you good with a blade?"

"Hell yeah, I am!" said the blue-haired Assassin loudly, and Force Edge stood up slowly.

"Oh, I hope you can make my acquaintance your partner as well," added Yamato. "He might be a little hardheaded sometimes, but his skill as tactician is commendable."

"Well, then he can join. But on one condition," said Black Star.

"What is it?" asked Force Edge, keeping his composure even though his nose was bleeding.

"Hurt Tsubaki again, and I'll tear you apart," warned the Meister with a star glowing in his right eye. "Well, then; let's go! Yahoo!"

The blue-haired boy grabbed Force Edge, who had turned into a double-edged sword, and Tsubaki's still unconscious body, and jumped off the window, running out of Death City with an insatiable appetite for power.

* * *

**lol can't believe the salt that came after the last chapter had Dante nail that pussy...cat! XDDDDDDD I don't wanna brag, but some weeaboos sure know nothing of DMC! I guess they didn't know about the DMC3 prequel manga where Dante talks to Morrison about that time he got so drunk he proposed to a mop... or that the anime is a tie-in between DMC1 and DMC4 w #buthtatsnoneofmybusiness**

**anyways! I don't think I've ever worked this quickly on a chapter before! Yamato finally brought Force Edge into the game, and they'll leave the city to take Black Star?! Tsubaki was taken too but i think that was cause the Star-boy wanted her to go~~ teehee~!**

**Salt! I'm getting dehydrated! nah jk jk but still, what do you think will be Dante and Kid's reactions when they find out Yamato already acquired his target...? Do you think they'll be able to save him? I hope so, cause people will get even saltier if they don't XDDDDDD**

**keep reading and read closely to make sure you know what you're ranting to us about when you get salty~**

**~_Humbert_**

**Also, whenever you include yourself in a group, there's always a member of said group slapping their forehead, embarrassed that you called yourself one of them. Plus, there's always someone who knows more than you do.**

**-_Klaus_**


	16. Indebted!

Dante was still taking a shower when Revenant called out to him from outside the bathroom.

"Dante, hurry up!"

"I'm almost done! Gimme a minute!"

Just outside the apartment, Death the Kid was tapping his foot impatiently, and Liz and Patty were looking at their Meister, concerned. They hadn't seen Kid so worried about anything besides symmetry since he made the pact between the Witches and Shibusen during the Battle of the Moon; shortly after the war against Asura had been won, some Witches who were still against Shibusen had attacked, only to be defeated by their own kind and imprisoned in a separate dimension from both Earth and the Witches' Realm.

"What is it, Kid?" asked Liz, looking at the golden-eyed young man. "Is there anything else we need to worry about?"

"I can't feel Black Star's presence…" replied the Shinigami. "Either his stealth skills have become much more refined, or he's gone from the City."

"I'm sure he's just practicing his stealth," replied Patty with a smile and a shrug, but Kid shook his head silently. "Oh, did I guess wrong?"

"Did he take a mission that you know of?" asked the older Thompson sister.

"It's plausible he took a mission, but I'm starting to worry," answered the black-and-white-haired boy while the door opened.

"Sorry I took so long," said Dante, who was still shirtless but clean. "Frankly, I'm surprised that the Weapons didn't let you in."

"No, that was my request," said Kid with a small bow.

"Patience does have its rewards, though," commented Liz while eyeing the white-haired man's well-endowed body.

"I heard Yamato's in town?" continued the Demon Hunter, ignoring the older sister's comment completely. "What did he want?"

"Black Star," answered the trio in unison. Patty then added, "But if he wanted someone smart, then he should've gone for Maka!"

"Dante, your phone is ringing," called Nevan from inside the apartment. "What should I say?"

"Tell 'em I'm a little busy right now," replied Dante, who was now stroking his chin pensively. "Write down the message if they think it's important."

"We're worried he might be trying to resonate with Black Star's Madness," continued Kid, looking more serious now. "His soul, as you know, is influenced by the Madness of—"

"Power, I know," finished the hunter. "Vergil was—"

"The same, we know," finished the Shinigami. "I assume it all started a long time ago, no?"

"More or less," replied the half-devil. "It was around the time our mother was killed; since Dad wasn't around anymore, some demons entered our house and… did what they did. I can't say Vergil wasn't the same anymore, cause I usually try to think he just matured or was traumatized or something…"

"He decided to avenge your mother?" asked Liz, curious and worried at the same time, but not averting her gaze from Dante's attractive body.

"Of course. We'd met Rebellion and Yamato shortly before that, and they accompanied us and shared our feelings. Yamato wasn't corrupt then…"

* * *

_Two white-haired boys were sitting in a bench in the middle of a crowded park, and two other boys joined them with two cones of ice cream in their hands. The boy with the black hoodie and red necklace thanked his friends before starting to eat his strawberry ice cream, and his brother, who wore a black buttoned-up shirt and a blue necklace, silently grabbed his mint chocolate snack and ate it._

_"I'll kill them," finally said Vergil, holding his blue necklace._

_"Hmm?" asked Dante, who was preventing his melting ice cream to drip on his clothes._

_"I'll kill them all," replied the older son of Sparda, and his blue eyes gleamed for an instant. "Every last one of them, the devils must die!"_

_"How do you figure we'll do that, Vergil?" asked Yamato, whose short silver hair gleamed in the sunlight. "We don't even know how to find the demons…"_

_"Yeah, plus we barely know how to fight the morons in school, let alone demons," complained Rebellion while he accommodated his bent glasses to see better._

_"Power," answered Vergil shortly, looking at the crowd in the park. "We need power to kill the demons…"_

* * *

"How much did that bookshelf cost, Soul?" asked Maka to her partner while holding the phone with one hand and writing on a notebook with the other.

"I don't remember," answered the white-haired boy while sweeping the floor. He kneeled beside the remains of the enormous bookshelf that had once held both Maka's public literary collection and some of Soul's piano scores, and examined the material carefully. "I'm no wood expert," he said after a few seconds, "but I've seen pianos made of wood that looks like this and they're pretty pricey. I'd estimate about a grand for this whole shelf, if I were to tag it…"

"Thanks," said Maka, writing it down as well. "Yeah, that's right; a grand for the shelf, as well. We'll call you once we make sure of the prices and quantities, and if there's more stuff he needs to pay us. Thanks, Nevan. Right, bye."

Maka hung up and sighed loudly, poking the notebook with the pencil repeatedly. Soul stopped cleaning for a moment and started to gently squeeze his Meister's shoulders.

"Thanks, Soul," said Maka after a few seconds. "I can't believe we have so much to deal with…"

"It's okay, Maka," replied the red-eyed boy calmly. "But that's life, I guess…"

"Speaking of which, I should call Tsubaki and ask her if we're still on for that pizza tonight," Maka realized quickly.

"Why is pizza the only thing we ever eat nowadays? We ate pizza two days ago, last week, the week before that, and pretty much since we went on that mission with Dante," Soul wondered.

"I guess Dante did something to us in the short time he's been here, at least," giggled the green-eyed girl while grabbing her cell phone and dialing. After a few seconds, Maka looked at her phone. "Strange," she said, "Tsubaki's usually awake by now… why isn't she picking up?"

"Maybe she's taking a shower or making out with the Star-man?" suggested her red-eyed partner with a shrug.

"Probably the former… I'll text her just in case, then," said the Meister while quickly tapping her fingers on the phone's screen. "At least she replies as soon as she reads the message…"

* * *

"Nine weeks, and I'm already this deep in shit…?" said Dante while walking with Rebellion, Ebony, Ivory, and Agni and Rudra.

"Well, you do seem to stir up trouble wherever you go," commented Agni.

"If you attracted girls the way you attract problems, you'd be swimming in p—" Rudra was saying, but Ebony interrupted him.

"Where the hell did you hear that phrase, Rudra?!" said the dark-skinned girl angrily. "Aren't you a little young to be saying that stuff?"

"I'm twelve hundred years old, in case you forgot, Miss Ebby!" replied the cyan-haired boy angrily.

"Well you don't look a day under twelve thousand, brother," chuckled the redheaded boy.

"Oh, screw you," snapped his brother.

"Screw you!"

"SCREW YOU!"

"Jesus Christ, not this again," groaned Rebellion while massaging his temples.

"We need to find that moron, Black Star," said Dante, returning to the subject. "If Yamato is gonna do what Kid said then we can't let him find the kid. You do know where Black Star lives, right?"

"I know the general direction, yes," answered the claymore, and he led the way to the apartment he'd visited three weeks prior. "Though remember that Black Star loves to work out and practice…"

"Plus there are missions he can take too," added Ivory.

"So finding him will be like trying to hear a ringtone in a crowd," finished Ebony.

"Damn." Dante sighed loudly, and his companions all looked at each other. "At least the other teachers are looking for him too."

"May I recommend we send Cerberus to check if any missions are taken by him?" asked Agni, scratching his head.

"Mister Revenant should go with him too," said Rudra. "I don't think Mister Spirit will understand a word the pooch says…"

"Plus there's the creepy doctor with the loose screw…" added the boy with dreadlocks.

"How did you guys get along, Dante? The guy sends a shiver down my spine…" asked the boy with slicked hair.

"We studied together," replied Dante shortly. "Now, will you two shut up? I'm trying to think how the hell to repay Soul and Maka…"

"Oh, yeah," Ebony and Ivory looked at each other before laughing. "How the hell did you manage to practically obliterate their apartment?"

"I don't remember," replied Dante bluntly.

"Must've been a hell of a night, then," muttered Agni while rolling his eyes. Ivory eyed him with an eyebrow raised, and the redheaded boy said, "What? You guys say it every now and then; we learn and repeat!"

"And annoyingly so," replied Ebony, rolling her eyes.

* * *

"How's that?"

"Surprisingly good. Your stance is natural, but your movement is too stiff; try doing it more gracefully."

Black Star groaned lowly while he threw another punching bag upwards before quickly grabbing Yamato, who had sheathed himself. When the bag was falling and it came into the position needed, the blue-haired boy quickly juggled it by smacking it twice with the sheathed sword before drawing it out and slicing it horizontally in one swift move. The heavy sack quickly fell apart, and the Assassin chuckled confidently before letting Yamato out again.

"Better?" he asked.

"A bit," replied the grey-haired man with a slight nod but holding a serious expression. "Your style is that of an Assassin, that's for sure, but you fight with too much practicality… Make yourself look proper and dignified while you fight."

"Where's the fun in that?" muttered the boy, grabbing his bottle of water and drinking from it.

Tsubaki, who was watching the scene, was worried sick about her Meister. Sure, Yamato seemed like an excellent trainer, but she was getting a terrible vibe just from watching the pair interact. Black Star's eyes hadn't changed from the golden stars they turned into whenever he was under the influence of his Madness, but he was acting like he usually does… or maybe a bit more bellicose. Yamato's partner, Force Edge, sat next to her, and the raven-haired girl quickly scooted away.

"I wanted to apologize, Miss Tsubaki," said the tattoed man after a few seconds of awkward silence between them. "Our methods of entering aren't as refined as we wish they were, but we really needed to meet with your Meister—"

"And you think that justifies breaking and entering, not to mention partnering with Black Star without my consent?" growled the girl with a nasty glare at the shorter man, who looked away immediately.

"Take it easy," pleaded the Blade of Sparda. "That boy is as important to us as he is to you."

"You're using him to bring back Vergil, aren't you?" Tsubaki looked back towards Black Star, who was talking to Yamato far away. "I know he's your friend and all, but you can't bring back the dead."

"He's not dead," answered Force Edge angrily.

Black Star looked towards where he could see Tsubaki arguing with Yamato's partner, and the grey-haired man followed his gaze before saying, "Your partner is quite lovely, isn't she?"

"What's it to you?" said the blue-haired boy bashfully. "You're not putting a finger on her, and neither will your pal."

"You do look at her often, though. Maybe that's why your Soul Resonance with her is so powerful…"

"You haven't seen me Resonate with her, though," Black Star raised an eyebrow while looking back at Yamato, who chuckled lowly.

"That's as far as you know, boy," replied the man.

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Your Madness of Power got ahold of you not too long ago, did it?"

* * *

**so Yamato seems to know about Dante and the Star-boy's battle?! how on earth would he know that!? well, we know how, but we won't tell you until the next chapter... or chapters~ also, how much do you think a good bookshelf costs? ...actually, how much money do you all think Dante owes Maka and Soul? Soul may be rich but Dante needs to learn a lesson! XDDD sorry this chapter is so short, but we are in spring break now and we still have work to do T_T leave your thoughts and questions below!**

**Also, special trivia! Vergil IS alive, apparently! (DMC4:SE trailer anyone~?) but wasn't Force Edge (or the Blade of Sparda) supposed to be with Trish as of DMC1? where IS Trish, tho? .o. will we get a phone call from the sexy blonde asking about the whereabouts of her sword/scythe? maybe, but you'll have to keep reading to find out~!**

**~_Humbert_**


	17. Disappearance of a Loud-Mouthed Ninja

"Ugh, why do we have to search outside?"

"I dunno, brother… but hey, we can at least think of it as an adventure!"

"Fine, but I want it to be a pirate adventure!"

"We already played pirates! Let's do a space mission!"

"But I hate space missions!"

Agni and Rudra were just outside Black Star and Tsubaki's apartment, looking for clues about the Assassin and his weapon's whereabouts when they started arguing. However, they found nothing out of the ordinary once they decided to play detective as in the noir films. In the meantime, Ebony and Ivory had called Dante and Rebellion to the blue-haired boy's room, where there was a small puddle of blood near the entrance.

"Whose blood is it?" asked Rebellion, looking closely.

"Do I look like a DNA scanner to you, Rev?" asked Ebony with a frown. "Whosever this blood is, it means Black Star had a fight!"

"Well, we know that the kid ain't half bad at fighting," commented Dante.

"How can you tell?" Ivory looked at her Meister with an eyebrow raised. "You were holding back the whole time!"

"I know that," acknowledged the white-haired man, "but he could adapt to the situation way too quickly for a human; I bet that this blood belongs to whoever tried to enter the apartment."

Rebellion then grabbed his phone and dialed.

* * *

Revenant and Cerberus reached the mission board and greeted Kilik, who was looking for a mission for himself.

"Looking for anything big for Dante?" asked the dark-skinned boy with a smirk.

"We're looking for Black Star," answered the enormous man while the three-headed dog started to sniff around for signs of the missing boy. "Kid says he's disappeared, and he sent us to look for him. I didn't know those two were that close."

"You could almost think they're brothers." Kilik nodded and crossed his arms. "But you do realize Star-man could've just taken a mission and not told him about it?"

"It's a possibility we can't overlook, yes." Revenant was interrupted by one of Cerberus' heads, which started to bark loudly. "What is it, boy?" Cerberus barked again. "Vergil's stench again, huh…?"

"Vergil?" asked Kilik, confused.

"Dante's brother," explained the Mohawk man. "His weapon's in town, apparently, and the pooch can't tell their smells apart 'cause he hasn't spent enough time with them to do so. Either way, that means he did pass by…"

"Well, in case you're still wondering," said Kilik, pointing at the Mission Board, "he DID take a mission." He then pointed at a small paper with that contained a mission name and details, and a big star-shaped sticker that read "TAKEN BY THE GREAT BLACK STAR."

* * *

Kid picked up his cell phone quickly, eager to hear news about his missing friend.

"Yes?" he said, hopeful.

"Black Star isn't in his apartment," declared Rebellion on the other side of the line. "Looks like he had a fight or something, and left his opponent wounded."

"It's possible he went chasing after him." Kid knew the blue-haired boy was headstrong—or maybe reckless—like that. "What did your companions find out?"

"Hang on." Rebellion heard a beep on his phone and checked to find Revenant had sent him a text message, which he read quickly before announcing it to Kid. "Revenant says he talked to Kilik and he said that the kid took a mission to… England?"

"I recall there were a few missions that required travel to Britain," said the young Shinigami. "Hopefully, anyone else who takes the mission will come across him."

"Let's hope so," said Rebellion. "I'll contact a few acquaintances and warn them about Yamato."

"I'll give the staff and the other Death Scythes the progress report, then," declared Kid before hanging up.

Patty came and sat down next to her Meister partner, and she eyed him curiously before saying, "Black Star's gone, ain't he?"

"He's just on a mission," said her companion with a sigh. "At least, I hope so."

"Me too… that means he'll be back soon." The blonde crossed her arms on the table and placed her head on them. "He will be back, won't he?"

"One way or another, he will," reassured Death.

* * *

"I reread the mission details, and I believe you need another lesson."

"What kinda lesson? I'm ready for anything."

"Refinement, boy. Refinement, finesse, style, and manners, above all."

Black Star tilted his head sideways a bit, confused. Yamato sighed and pointed at himself.

"You see this?" he said, referring to his attire. "This is called a suit."

"I know what a suit is, thanks," the blue-haired Assassin said while crossing his arms. "What're you getting at?"

"Your mission requires you to infiltrate an organization in England that's supposed to protect the government, but lately there has been evidence of corruption… by a notorious murderer."

"Thanks for the exposition, Yamato," said Force Edge, joining the duo. "When're we gonna get him his outfit?"

"Outfit?!" Black Star suddenly realized what was about to happen. "I'm not changing my clothes into a friggin' monkey suit!"

"Says the one with monkey brains," muttered Yamato, irked. "I know what kind of infiltration you're used to, Black Star. However, this mission NEEDS you to kill the beast from inside. The whole group is well-trained, and even though I don't doubt your abilities, we don't want to…" the gray-haired man cleared his throat before continuing, "…pay for any collateral damage."

"The school already does that," replied the boy, but Yamato shook his head impatiently.

"And that might make the school look bad," said the Katana. "Now, I need you to come with me. The first lesson is that manners make a man."

"This is stupid… I'd rather beat up Edge here again." Black Star cracked his knuckles menacingly at the other blue-haired man, who shuddered lightly but seemed otherwise unfazed.

"How about you practice these lessons with Tsubaki?" commented Yamato, not looking over his shoulder as he walked. "These lessons are non-violent, so you needn't worry about her."

"Whatever, just get over with it."

* * *

Maka and Soul arrived at the airport sooner than they expected, and they decided to walk around London for a while, taking in the summer view. The pigtailed Meister took her partner to a shopping center she had read about not too long ago, but hadn't had the chance to visit. Soul wasn't as interested as his partner in the mall, but he needed to take his mind off of Black Star. The boy hadn't appeared again the night he'd gone and, even though Kilik and Revenant could confirm that he was away in a mission, Soul was still worried. Then again, that Purple Dragon mission did take him three days to clear, so maybe he was just taking his time for this mission as well.

"Say, Soul?" Maka looked over her shoulder and at her partner.

"Hm?" The white-haired Death Scythe looked at the pigtailed girl, caught unawares. "What is it, Maka?"

"Relax, okay?" The girl pulled up a thumb with a small grin. "I'm sure Black Star's safe, wherever he is. He is, after all, with Tsubaki."

Soul blinked for an instant before replying. "Y-yeah, Tsubaki wouldn't let him out of her sight in a mission…"

A young man bumped into them and apologized quickly, and Soul and Maka told him not to worry before going on their way. Force Edge said thanks to the pair before going his own way too.

* * *

**Sorry it took us this long to post this chapter, everyone. I also apologize if this chapter seems a little out of context/tone/line; I was the one originally working on this one, so the chapter was in my laptop. Unfortunately, my PC's HDD died, making me lose most if not all my digital belongings, including the chapter's original document; obviously, I didn't foresee this event, so I didn't have a backup copy in my email. Anyways, I had no computer for a whole week (I'm sure you can imagine how terrible it is). Both Humbert and I also had exams and projects to work on, so not only did we lose the chapter's document, but we also lost the original train of thought behind it. Don't worry; we're almost done with this school year, so the next chapter will feel more like it belongs in the story. Enjoy.**

**-_Klaus_**

**sorry about that, guys ;-; we really didn't see that coming, so you can imagine how devastated Klaus got when his hard drive failed :P don't worry tho, we learned our lesson XP**

**Anyways, ummm... so we were asked what happened to Nero cause he had Yamato by the end of DMC4... Yamato said a few chapters ago that he wasn't of use to him anymore so they went their separate ways or something like that... but Kid said Yamato sucked the souls of those "unworthy" of wielding him... (make your theories here, kids! XDDD) also, I dunno, but I think Trish had Edge (or Sparda; whichever one's fine) before he rejoined Yamato... I'm not sure if she's gonna appear or not in this fic, cause Klaus can't contact her ^^; **

**also, fun fact: remember that in chapter 16 Rebellion was fixing his glasses cause they were bent and mentioned something about fighting morons in school? well, that's cause he was bullied! /*the more you know~!*/**

**hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you didn't, please send a POLITE message about your feelings... we've had a horrible weekend and I REALLY need sleep...**

**Have a nice weeeeee~~~! :3**

**~Humbert**


	18. Bait and Bed

Letting out a yawn of utter boredom, Dante fired off a few rounds at the pre-Kishin that had attempted to lunge at him. He finally sat down on a staircase nearby and rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. Ebony, Ivory, Rebellion, and Agni and Rudra sat next to him, though none of them was as tired as he was. The past month had been very tiresome for him; after Black Star disappeared, Dante received a few calls from Trish, another one from Morrison, one from Maka saying that she never encountered the blue-haired ninja while she traveled around Europe, and many from Kid and Stein for meetings about what to do about Black Star and Yamato, whether they were together now or not, and how to bring back the Assassin.

Morrison had called Dante because the shop's repair costs were a little higher than estimated, plus the half-devil had to clean his debt record with everyone other than Lady, so Dante spent a whole week or two without sleep balancing his work and Shibusen's search for Black Star. When Trish called Dante to tell him about the mysterious disappearance of her sword/scythe, Force Edge, the hunter had to add another thing to his growing list of worries: if Yamato was on the loose, and Force Edge had disappeared, then the only thing left for them both to do would be to bring back Vergil, since that trio was inseparable until a few years ago. To top it off, Dante and Rebellion had to make sure that Beowulf never found out about Yamato and Edge's actions or whereabouts.

"Why can't he know, Mister Rebellion?" Rudra had once asked.

"Remember that Vergil had Yamato, Edge, AND Beo," the bespectacled man had then responded. "If what Dante fears is true, and they're trying to bring Vergil back, then we can't let him have his full set."

"That's pretty dumb; Mister Beowulf's on our side!" Rudra had crossed his arms and had shaken his head after a moment.

"You know how persuasive Yamato can get…"

"Dante, are you paying attention?"

"Hm? What?"

Dante blinked a few times before realizing he was at Shibusen, and Marie was looking at him, concerned.

"You don't look well, Dante," said the blonde. "You should get some rest."

"I'm fine, Marie," replied the white-haired man while rubbing his eyes. Noticing that Stein and Spirit raised an eyebrow each, he then added, "I'll go to bed once the meeting's over. I can't miss out on this one."

"That's pretty weird, coming from one of the laziest guys I knew back at school," commented Spirit, chuckling.

"It's important. I—we need to find Black Star," said the red-clad man, accommodating himself in his chair.

Stein eyed him for a while until he finally asked, "Any particular reason why you've grown so fond of the kid?" Dante, however, never answered that question.

A few days later, Dante was giving a class… or, rather, doing his best.

"This is such bullshit…" muttered the red-clad man once again after reading the passage of the history book he was supposed to quote. He looked at the class, half of which was staring at his looks and the rest were paying attention to his comment, and said, "Listen, everyone. I bet you should know by now about 'Little' Bonaparte, right?" When most of the students nodded, he continued, "Well he actually was five-feet-six; the only short thing about him is his—"

"DANTE!" shouted Ivory, running into the classroom and startling the students. "I've a call for you!"

"Thanks," said Dante, smirking and grabbing his phone from his Weapon's hand. "Then you continue giving the class! Catch ya later!"

"Wait, what?" asked the fair-skinned girl, but her Meister wasn't there anymore.

"Yeah?" said Dante once he answered the call.

"I don't have much time," said a female voice at the other end, "so I'll be quick. We're safe, and he's training. They want him back, and he's in danger."

"Wait, is this Tsubaki?!" said Dante when he recognized the voice.

"Tell the Death Scythes to be prepared. This will get dangerous," said Tsubaki hurriedly before the call got cut off.

* * *

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" asked Spirit after Dante had gathered the staff and relayed the message. "What could he possibly be training for that Tsubaki has to say is dangerous to him?"

"We all know Tsubaki cares too much for her partner," commented Marie with a lovely smile.

"While that may be true," said Stein, "she did say that we, the Death Scythes, should be prepared. That in and of itself is a hefty warning to send."

Kid was rubbing his temples, deep in thought. Dante knew Kid, as a classmate of Black Star's, would surely know him better than he would, so he turned to him.

"What's on your mind, Kiddo?"

"Black Star," answered Kid slowly. "He's always been the one to bring the others back whenever someone went astray. He brought back Chrona before Medusa stole her from us again… and he brought me back when I was taken over by the Madness of Order. All his comrades know and regard him as a hero or a true warrior, albeit a hot-blooded, hard-headed one. What happens when the hero deviates from the path of light? What could make the warrior seek war with his comrades?"

The staff fell silent for a moment, pondering on the Shinigami's words. Tlipoca, who was also in the meeting but in a mirror, suddenly piped up, "Peace."

"Beg your pardon?" replied Stein.

"Black Star is a born warrior," agreed Sid with a nod. "When there's peace, the warrior feels lost and useless. He'll seek out a fight even where there is none; the poor boy will battle for the sake of war because he's too accustomed to it. We only have so much to offer with the missions we give him, but he _needs_ a full Kishin to fight for real."

Dante looked down; the boy reminded him of his brother in many ways, but this comment made him think of himself. What would he do when he hunted all the demons, if he ever were to accomplish that seemingly impossible feat? He'd never considered that before, but he now felt that an age of peace and no demons was… frightening.

Kid's mind was whizzing with thoughts. A month is an odd amount of time to think about bringing someone back, he knew; that task could've taken two or three weeks, if only Black Star was their one and only task. Who do you send to bring back the person who brings everyone back? Suddenly, the striped-haired boy remembered something that had been occurring for a few weeks.

"Everyone," he called, making all the heads in the room turn to him. "Who's been taking and completing the missions on the top half of the board?"

"The ones reserved for Two-to-Three-Star-level Meisters?" said Azusa, adjusting her glasses. "I never found out. They just disappear and return completed, but no sign of who or what took them."

Stein started to crank the bolt on his head; it seemed he was starting to analyze what Kid must've been thinking. "What if we bait Black Star?"

"Bait him how, dear?" asked Marie, surprised at her husband's suggestion.

The Shinigami nodded quickly; it seemed the scientist's mind was syncing to his. "We'll need everyone to prepare for what is about to happen, but this is what I have in mind…"

* * *

Tsubaki lied on the sheets, trembling in anticipation. Black Star had been training the same as usual that day, but Yamato seemed to have some suspicion bubbling towards the Dark Arm and her Meister. He chastised the boy the same as usual, reminding him that form is as important as efficiency, and once the night crept up on them, they decided to call it a day. Yamato then called the blue-haired assassin to talk alone, and Tsubaki went to her room before Force Edge would try to have small talk with her.

Her indigo eyes were having trouble to stay open, and her lids felt heavy. She dozed off.

"Tsubaki," someone called out to her, and she already knew who it was.

"Deer-sama," she responded reverently. She turned to see that enormous black-and-white deer that was the Will of the Nakatsukasa Clan. "I'm terrified for my partner."

"It seems the warrior is once again tempted by the Path of the Demon, my dear," said the Will. "The Madness of Power has taken hold of him through your new companions. I sense great danger ahead for you two."

"So do I, Deer-sama. I want to help him out; he's in too deep with this whole Power thing…" Tsubaki shook in nervousness. It broke her heart to see her beloved Meister going back to that slippery slope that he'd avoided since their second battle against Mifune. The Will nodded its head slowly.

"I see you love the warrior very much, my daughter. You must stay by his side and make sure he doesn't succumb to the darkness that the others offer him; guide him so he returns to the path of righteousness."

"I don't know how to do that," said Tsubaki with a sob. "The new weapons want to bring back their friend; I can't go against that! I'd do anything, _anything_, to bring back Black Star if he ever left my side! …but I've a feeling this Vergil person they want back is too dangerous to be kept alive…"

Suddenly, Tsubaki woke up when Black Star entered the room with a smirk. She mentally hoped she could find a way to prevent Vergil's revival before it happened, but her Meister interrupted her thoughts.

"Tough night, huh?" said he nonchalantly. He sat next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"Black Star…" said the raven-haired girl, sitting up and facing her partner. "Yamato and Edge aren't good people."

"What makes you say that?"

"They want to bring back someone who opened a gate to Hell just to gain more power! It's too dangerous to let him return!"

"What're you talking about? They're gonna make me the most powerful being on Earth!"

"What're you gonna do with all that power, Black Star?"

The blue-haired Meister stayed quiet for an instant before replying, "I guess we'll see when we get there," and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. Tsubaki was so surprised at the random act that she didn't kiss back, even though she'd been hoping for that for ages. Black Star broke the kiss and shrugged, "It's not that bad, is it? You'll be by my side all the time, after all."

Tsubaki's head felt fuzzy and she couldn't think about what the Will had told her anymore. Her hormones and beating heart had gotten the better of her and she threw herself into her Meister's arms, kissing him wildly because it's what she'd wanted to do. The pair of teenagers landed on the bed again, and clothes were slowly being removed in their lustful entangle. Neither of them wanted to slow down, even when Tsubaki felt a nearly unbearable pain that took a lot to relieve; Black Star had never been so gentle with anyone or anything before, and the indigo-eyed weapon felt like heaven had crashed down on her. Their souls were in deep resonance, she realized, and their bodies were the instruments causing the harmony. They were exhausting themselves of their energy and frustrations, and were feeling more peaceful with each movement they made. By the time the sun was starting to rise, the pair was lying next to each other, dead tired but happy about uniting so deeply.

Somewhere deep inside, Tsubaki knew something was terribly wrong.

* * *

**FINALLY! I'm so so so so sorry that we took so long to post this but we were really busy with fuckin' college and we have an exam or two this week T-T so you can imagine how stressed we are right now ;3; anyways I'm so glad we're gettin' so many new followers even though we've been on hiatus for months and won't post anything of anything for a while until we finish with some projects and take care of our exams ;-; still! looks like the Star-Man and Tsubaki finally tied the knot?! fangirls rejoice! I dunno if it's a little ooc but I felt they needed something to happen to feel better and well... I'm a pervert, sue me~ also, you might've noticed that Dante is getting more and more worried and serious about stuff lately, huh? well, we all know how he's gonna end up in DMC2 (though I don't even wanna think about it) so at least he's not that bad, huh~?**

**please leave any questions and comments as reviews, or PM us if you want to know special details about the fic (BUT NOT SPOILERS)~~ love y'all~**

**~_Humbert_**

**He forgot to mention the plan. What do you think the plan is going to be? We know it involves a bait, and that everyone needs to get ready! Is it a battle, a trap, or are they past their Godzilla threshold and need to bring in something otherworldly? Ask away, everyone!**

**-_Klaus_**


	19. Plans for Poison?

"How dare you dishonor my clan?!"

"I told you I'd fuck your princess. She loved it, too."

"You're going too far, boy. Your Madness is making you mess with a force you can't even comprehend."

"Do I look like I care? I'll become more powerful than you can ever imagine; I'm a God of War!"

"You'll become nothing but a joke. People will laugh at your name and piss on your tomb."

"SHUT UP!"

Black Star punched the giant deer down, subduing it immediately. The Great Will of Nakatsukasa, defeated, glared up at the blue-haired boy, muttered "You'll regret this," and dissipated. The sun shone on the assassin's face, waking him up almost immediately. He covered his eyes from the brightness while sitting up and looking at the naked Tsubaki sleeping next to him. He chuckled to himself while getting dressed and walking to the kitchen, where Yamato and Force Edge were awaiting him.

The Meister looked at the silver-haired and blue-haired Weapons, and nodded with a smirk while serving himself some breakfast when Yamato spoke up.

"I'll assume you had a good night," said the Katana. "I hope that won't affect our mission?"

"I had a great night," affirmed Black Star. "When are we awakening Trigon?"

Edge and Yamato looked at each other for a moment when the former asked, "How did you know which Kishin we were going to revive?"

"I'm not stupid; I've read up on the strongest demons around and Trigon is high enough on the list to make the cut for you, isn't he? Defeating him will prove my power and place me as a God of War, won't it?"

Yamato closed his eyes and smiled. "It seems we were wrong to doubt your sharpness. Yes, we will revive Trigon within the week, and you will defeat it with our help. I hope you know what you'll do then?"

"Of course. We've trained long enough."

"Almost," said Edge, pulling out his phone. "We need one last mission for you so we can be sure last night hasn't impaired you."

"You don't know what I did last night," muttered Black Star with a pink tint in his cheeks, hoping his words were true. "Gimme the toughest one on the list; I can do it." The assassin crossed his arms and looked dead serious. Both Weapons nodded at him and exited the room.

* * *

"Death City," said Dante to his phone for the third time.

"Sure, Dante," replied Lady on the other side of the call. "And I'm in Asgard."

"I'm serious! It's in Nevada! I went to high school here!" Dante rolled his eyes, and Rebellion chuckled lowly while handing his Meister a beer.

"You went to high school?" said Lady, sounding genuinely surprised.

"More than you did, Armor Skirt," replied the red-clad man, distracted by the girl that was dancing in front of him and his weapon. "At least I didn't skip class to hunt for demons!"

"Oh, like you did any better?"

"Hunting demons was literally my homework!" Dante smirked proudly. "Plus I didn't have some bitch taking away my rewards cause of some made-up debt! These last months without you have been paradise." He muttered that last sentence to himself; fortunately for him, Lady didn't hear him.

"Excuse me?! You weren't calling me a bitch that other night—!"

"Yes I was, and I was telling you to work the shaft more. Now, I gotta go; something's come up! Toodle-oo!"

"Dammit, Dante—!"

Dante hung up and clinked his beer with Rebellion's while a bra landed on the latter's head. Both men smiled, though not at each other.

* * *

Kid was sure he'd gotten slower over the last few weeks, or maybe it was Maka that was getting faster? Either way, it was great to spar with the pigtailed Meister after so long and considering what was going on. The Shinigami fired off a few rounds at the girl's feet, but she made a pirouette that both dodged the shots and made her scythe graze Kid's arm. He didn't wince or react to the pain; this wasn't an all-out fight like the ones Stein and Black Star would have for practice, so this was about as far as either Maka or Kid would go in terms of damage. Maka didn't apologize, though; she knew she'd have to do much better in less time if she was to survive what would come soon. The bells rang, signaling that it was 3 pm, and both Meisters stopped fighting to catch their breaths. Soul, Liz, and Patti transformed back from their Weapon forms and sat with their companions.

"Why'd you aim for the legs?" asked the white-haired boy, looking at Kid. "You know you can't play footsies with Maka."

"She was wide open," answered Kid, "so it was either the legs or the head…"

"I wasn't wide open," countered Maka. "I was baiting you and it worked!"

"Huh, so it WAS bait," said Liz with a nod. "And here I thought you were being careless."

"I'm a Death Scythe Meister, Liz," said the green-eyed girl, sticking out her chest proudly. "I can't afford to get careless!"

"Sure, but you got careless in the coffee shop last Thursday!" giggled Patti. "I'd never seen anyone spill so much soda at once before!"

"S-shut up, Patti…" Maka lowered her head, embarrassed.

Marie entered the courtyard and greeted her students happily. All five greeted just as happily, and let her join the conversation.

"Miss Mjolnir," the younger Thompson sister piped up, "is your clumsiness contagious?"

"Ever the tactless one, Patti," muttered Kid while Marie's face blanched.

"I—um, I mean… er…" The woman's belly visibly twitched. "Oh! Well, someone's restless!" she said cheerfully.

"I wonder why," said Stein, who had appeared from out of nowhere and was standing behind the group. Soul screamed and leapt into Maka's arms, while Liz hid her face in her sister's breasts. Only Kid and Maka seemed unfazed or unsurprised at the sudden arrival.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" asked Maka, curious.

Stein and Marie looked at each other, the latter smiling at the former. She looked back at the students and said "Shelley!"

"That's a cute name! I'm sure she'll grow up to be a smart girl too!" Maka clapped her hands cheerfully, dropping Soul in the process.

"Plus she has Weapon blood and will be the daughter of one of our strongest Meisters," added Kid. "She'll be a force to be reckoned with!"

"Just make sure to raise her right," said Liz, and Stein and Marie's heads turned to her. "Be there for her and treat her well, please."

Marie suddenly remembered the Thompsons' backstory and her eyes welled up with tears. She hugged Liz and Patti tightly and said, "I promise I'll be a good mother."

* * *

Ebony and Ivory were with Agni and Rudra in the library, researching. The fair-skinned sister had remembered that previous wielders of Yamato and power-hungry fools wanted to bring back some mighty demon or structure to lay and prove their power, or something like that. Agni was worried about the sisters; they both seemed heartbroken, even though he didn't know why they even crushed on Black Star in the first place. Rudra was more worried about the research.

"I can't find anything that we can use!" complained the Wind Scimitar. "There's too many possibilities, especially around Death City!"

"I'm pretty sure Black Star won't settle for some small fries, though," commented Ivory, storming through the pages of another book on Kishins. "Ugh, I'm sure we should be able to find something in this darn library!"

"Let's check the higher-up section, then," Ebony proposed. "I'm sure they'd have something on dangerous Kishin and where they should be locked up…"

She and her sister both stood up and walked away from the Scimitars. Agni sighed, and Rudra looked at him with worry.

"I fear Miss Ebby and Miss Ivy aren't gonna find anything there, brother," said the cyan-haired boy. The red-orange-haired boy nodded in reply.

"I've never seen those two so… desperate… It's as if they need Black Star by their side."

"You'd think there aren't any better guys in the world," shrugged Rudra.

"There's us, for starters," chuckled Agni. "Though I wouldn't wanna get involved with those two."

"As lovely as they may be, Miss Ebby and Miss Ivy leave much to be desired…"

"Maybe they just don't fit our taste?"

"Of course they don't! Miss Trish, though; that's a woman!" Rudra sighed.

"Indeed she is, brother…"

In the meantime, Ebony was tapping her foot impatiently while Ivory tried to convince the librarian that they should be allowed to pass to the 3-Star-level section. The fair-skinned girl was usually more calm and charming than her dark-skinned, spicy sister, but both could easily lose patience if someone was in the way of something important to them, as was the case. In that moment, Ebony's phone rang and she picked up.

"What?" she asked, sounding noticeably irked.

"It's me," replied Revenant from the other side of the line. "I'm with Artie at the moment, and she thinks she knows what Kishin Black Star's gonna battle."

"So then you think Wonder-boy's gonna fight a Kishin to assert his power, too? I'm glad Ivy and I weren't the only ones…"

"Oh, hand it over, already!" Artemis sounded impatient and, from the sound of it, grabbed the phone from Revenant's hand. "Considering there aren't many Kishins in America under the influence of the Madness of Power, then Black Star will either go to Europe—which is unlikely given that Kid stationed Azusa there for the time being…"

"Or?" Ebony looked at her sister, who stopped talking to the librarian to listen in to the conversation.

"…or Yamato knows Trigon's 'stored' in San Francisco." Artemis paused for a moment, giving Ebony enough time to think about the Kishin's identity.

"Trigon sounds familiar," stated the black gun. "I think Lady once mentioned that Trigon had fought Sparda before… and that apparently, he has an offspring or seven."

"That's not important. What matters is that we have to tell Dante about this and go to Cal to stop Yamato and Edge—"

Ebony heard a pause and instantly got worried.

"Yes, Beowulf; Yamato is alive and well and he has Edge with him," she heard Revenant say.

"Dante didn't want to tell you—" Artemis said, but a roar interrupted her.

"Oh, so Dante thought I'd sell you guys out or something?!" Beowulf's clearly angry voice was heard loud enough for both Ebony and Ivory to hear. "Haven't the last years proved anything to you?!"

"Nero's gone because of Yamato," replied Revenant, sounding serious. "His power and influence must be greater than before."

"Lemme guess: he got to that Star kid and you think I'm just gonna go and help him bring back the Master, right?" Beowulf's voice cracked when he mentioned Vergil.

"The fact that you still call Vergil 'Master' is probably why we still think that, Beo," said Artemis flatly.

"It's trauma; you guys have obviously never spent a day under his tutelage!"

"And I don't feel like going through that, thank you very much."

"Then you can't judge me because of that!"

Ebony and Ivory heard a door slam, and Artemis sighed loudly before turning back to the call.

"Great…" she muttered. "Someone's gonna have to call Dante."

"I'm gonna call Dante right now," said Ivory, pulling out her phone. "Artie, I think you'll need to call Lady and tell her to find Lucy and Gil; we might need them soon."

"Sure thing," replied the bespectacled woman before hanging up.

* * *

The blue-haired man looked at the bulletin board and grabbed his phone, dialing a number he already knew by heart. When the call was picked up, Edge went straight to the point.

"How many Meister levels are there?"

"Three, if I'm not mistaken," answered Yamato's deep, soft voice. "Why d'you ask?"

"I'm seeing a special mission here. I'm not sure if this is like a fourth level or something…"

"Send me a picture," replied Yamato.

Edge took a picture of the mission and forwarded it to his silver-haired companion. The mission read as follows:

SPECIAL MISSION!

Meister Level: BLACK STAR

Task: Assert your power. Take on the most powerful opponents you will ever face.

Requirements: 3+ Weapons, Black-Star-Level Skill, Limitless Power.

"Sounds like a trap," commented Yamato upon receiving the picture and reading the contents of the mission. "It's almost unbelievable that anyone'd take—"

"We'll take it," said Tsubaki, who had seen the picture as well. "It's what Black Star would want. We'll stay on high alert, of course."

"Yeah? What if it's a trap?" said Yamato almost sarcastically. It was too obvious that something was going on that would slow down if not halt his plans.

"We've trained long enough, haven't we?" said Tsubaki defiantly. "Even if it is a trap, we can still fight our way out of it."

Yamato pondered on what the busty girl had said. While Black Star was no Vergil, he did show abilities far greater than any ordinary human and some demons; not even Stein would be able to stop him after the grueling training he'd been through by now. He breathed deeply, thinking he might regret his decision later, and turned back to Edge.

"We'll take it, then."

"Great. We'll take Beowulf with us too."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard Edge," said the silver-and-white-haired man. "I'm tagging along. It'll be like the old days, right?"

"I hope you know what awaits you as soon as you step foot under my roof, Beowulf." Yamato's tone changed into a demonic growl. It was clear who set the rules in the trio.

"As long as the Master returns, I'll take anything you dish at me, Yamato."

The call ended, and both Kid and Stein received a message that read, "Bait has been poisoned, and will soon be bitten. Reel it in, in two days exactly."

* * *

**finally~! sorry to publish this after so long ;-; we had to concentrate on passing our classes (which we did, thanks for asking~) but hey~ Christmas gift for y'all! :DDDD**

**also, who the hell are Lucy and Gil? apparently Lady and Dante know them... might they be weapons~? or other hunters~? .w.**

**seems that Beowulf finally found out about Yamato and Edge wanting to bring back Vergil, huh? :o and he looks like Dante predicted exactly what he'd do once he did... that kinda sucks... or does it? ewe also, Stein and Marie are gonna have a girl~? I didn't know, I swear! ask Klaus about that!**

_**~Humbert**_

**I can't tell you what RNGesus decided to give those two... Anyway, what do you think the message meant? Do you think Tsubaki is aware of the situation? How badly does Black Star deserve to be punished for toying with his partner like he did? We'd like to hear your theories/suggestions/questions soon, so don't be afraid to leave reviews or PM us! Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!**

_**-Klaus**_


	20. The Calm before the Storm!

"Does Dante do anything other than slack off?" asked Maka while a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead.

"Dante's a great guy and a hard worker," replied Artemis, who was cleaning her glasses, as she did whenever she got exasperated, "but the one thing he lacks is motivation; that was his brother's forte."

"Too bad he's gone, huh?" said the pigtailed Meister, crossing her arms.

"Dante just needs a little push," replied the braided Weapon. "Let's hope this was it."

Dante was running his hands through his hair while Revenant explained the events that had transpired just a few hours earlier, obviously not pleased at all. The red-clad man looked at Maka, who blushed and looked away, and back at the shotgun, who had seemingly asked him a question. Dante raised a hand to pause Revenant and walked over to Rebellion, who was sitting on the other side of the room.

"So what do we do?" asked the black-haired man, not looking away from the screen where he was playing Smash.

"What do you think we'll do?" said Dante loud enough for the rest of the apartment to hear. He then lowered his voice as he crouched beside the claymore. "We have to move away; Beowulf's at work. D'you think we should call Iffy?"

"Ifrit's living in Australia now; I don't think she'll have time to come and help us." The bespectacled man paused his game and looked at Artemis, who was talking again to Maka. "Though I could bet you five bucks that Artie thought ahead and already called Gil. We'd have to tell him to meet us elsewhere."

"Great; I need to practice wearing the Dreadnought Armor again before—"

"The hell are you guys talkin' about?" interrupted Ebony and Ivory, who had just entered the apartment with Agni and Rudra. "Artie found out what demon Black Star's gonna bring back and you're playing Smash?"

Dante's blue eyes lit up instantly and he quickly turned to the purple-haired woman. "Say, Artie; why didn't you say so?"

"Cause Beo—"

"Forget about that; we know where the kid's gonna be!" said Dante, clapping his hands. "Where is he?"

Cerberus, who was sleeping next to Rebellion, raised one of its heads and growled through it. Rebellion turned to the cyan dog and asked it, "What the hell do you mean by 'I don't get credit'?"

* * *

The busty black-haired woman stopped for a moment to admire the view of the city. She had been busy since the previous week and was happy to find something to do nearby that didn't require assignments or training, or so she hoped. She adjusted her gloves and revved her bike, hoping the weapons she carried wouldn't fall out of the backpack she was wearing. Lady checked her phone, hoping the directions she had received were accurate, and drove into Death City, eager to pimp-slap Dante for what he had said the previous morning.

The motorcycle zoomed through streets and alleys, attracting the residents' looks or glares. Obviously, a woman with a backpack and a rocket launcher strapped to her back wasn't common around a city where people could turn into weapons, right? She stopped in front of her destination and opened her backpack, where a set of armor and sheathes fell with a loud CLANG! The armor then separated and out came a tall, thin (but still visibly strong), black man with rainbow-colored cornrows, and a young woman with hip-length, straight, black hair and sickly-white skin. The man, nicknamed Gil, started to stretch his arms.

"Ya didn't have to drop us off like that, Lady," he muttered in a soft, but still rough voice while he adjusted his white tank top.

"I'm in a bad mood, Gil, so shut up and follow," said the woman while taking off her orange-tinted glasses and revealing her peculiar eyes. Her left eye was red, while her right was blue; she'd been born like that, having inherited those colors from her father.

"When aren't you in a bad mood?" replied the pale girl, nicknamed Lucy, as she dusted off her black dress and adjusted her lacy black top hat. The only thing on her outfit that wasn't black was the red handkerchief that was neatly tucked in her right breast pocket. The trio was now standing in front of an apartment door with the number 3142 on the label (though the building had only seven floors and less than 70 apartments in total), and Lucy rolled her red eyes before knocking on the door. The ruckus inside quieted down.

Rebellion opened the door and his face blanched.

"L-Lady, hey," said he, taking a step back from the woman, who glared at him.

"Rebellion," said Lady, stepping forward and entering the building. Everyone save for Artemis and Maka turned pale at the new arrival. "I take it you didn't expect me to arrive so soon?"

Dante stood up and opened his arms widely, saying "Hey, Lady! Been a while!"

Lady smiled and walked to him, but before the red-clad man could embrace her in a hug, a slap went across his face. "That's for earlier, smartass," said the black-haired woman before hugging him tightly.

Maka looked dumbfounded at Artemis, who explained. "Lady's our… business partner. She usually comes to us with job offers and gives us our cut."

"By the look of Rebellion, I'd say she gives you less than you deserve," muttered the green-eyed girl. She then looked at the door and noticed the two strangers still lurking outside and said, "Who're they?"

"Oh, where are my manners?" said Dante, who looked at the door and noticed the two guests as well. "Lucy, Gil, welcome to our temporary lodging! We're living here until the shop is repaired, so feel right at home!"

When the pale girl and the black man entered the apartment, the ruckus livened up again. Agni and Rudra came running to greet the man, screaming "Mister Revenant! Gil's back!" Revenant looked up from the kitchen counter and moved quickly to embrace his old friend.

"It's so good to see you, baby!" said Revenant jokingly but happily.

"Great to see you too, Coyote!" answered Gilgamesh, returning the love. "You've been workin' out!"

"Well, it's been a busy few months," explained the muscle-bound man with a bashful smirk. "But sit down; I wanna hear what you've been doing lately!"

Agni and Rudra walked up to Maka, looking chipper. Agni spoke up before his brother.

"Gil's real name is Gilgamesh," said he.

"He's Revenant's old boyfriend," joked Rudra, looking back at the men that were laughing. He turned back to Maka and laughed at her face. "Just kidding; Revenant's not gay. But those two go waaaaaay back!"

"Miss Artie," said the red-haired boy, "Miss Lucy's here; I thought you'd want to say hello!"

"I do! Where is she?" Artemis found the black-wearing girl in a corner, eating an apple that Gil had just handed her. The purple-haired woman turned to Maka and said, "C'mon, let's go say hi!"

The pair walked over to the girl, who looked at Maka uninterested before looking at Artemis, and her red eyes lit up slightly, though her expression didn't change. "Artemis," she said before taking another bite from her apple. "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is Maka; she's a Death Scythe Meister," said Artemis happily. "Maka, this is Lucifer. She joined our gang after the Fortuna Incident, and she's now the head of a publishing company—though she does come to help every now and then."

"Wait; you're not the Lucifer from Devil's Advocate?" asked Maka with a piqued interest.

"That's the name of my company, yes," answered Lucy flatly. "Congratulations on making a Death Scythe; it's a feat not many can achieve, especially at your age."

"Oh, thank you." Maka bowed respectfully. "Though I must say, I envy any job that lets you read any book before anyone else…"

"She's into literature, as you could tell," explained Artemis before Lucy smiled and brought up a great subject to discuss.

Meanwhile, Dante, Rebellion, and Lady were huddled together, talking lowly.

"Cerberus found the exact location of Trigon so we can go put him down before the kid does," Rebellion was saying. "Considering Lady was kind enough to bring Gil and slap the laziness outta you, I can now say that we should go tonight."

"But what about Stein, Kid, and the others?" asked Dante. "I don't think we should let them take on the kid. Yamato will be whispering in his ear; he may not hold back."

"Frankie can hold his own; he's the one that trained Black Star before he left—"

"Pardon for interrupting, but who's Black Star?" asked Lady, confused. "You've been talking about this for the last five minutes."

"Right; you're uninformed," said the white-haired man while tilting his head a bit. "Lemme tell you the story so far as fast as I can:

"So after the shop got blown up, Nevan found an old brochure to the DWMA, which was my old high school. We came here and asked to be given jobs so we could pay; the old headmaster always offered temporary jobs to ex-students. The new one still does the same, so we got work. This kid, Black Star, was getting jealous cause we've been taking his 'precious' time with his friends, so he got pissed at me and started to fight me. I don't know what's been going through his head, but he's also obsessed with gaining more power, like Vergil. About a month ago, he and I fought, and I won—though he says otherwise (I was holding back)—so he stayed mad at me. I tried to help him, because the kid needs guidance, but he rejected me and left the school once Yamato came back."

"But wasn't Yamato with Nero?" asked Lady, now more confused. "I thought you left him in his care?"

"We've reason to believe Nero's dead," replied Rebellion. "Yamato seems to have absorbed his soul in his search for power to bring Vergil back."

"He wouldn't be his first, though. And I've a feeling that Black Star won't be his last unless we stop him," finished Dante. Lady looked shocked at the sad news about Nero, but regained her composure quickly.

"So Yamato plans to absorb that Star kid's soul when they try to fight Trigon? That's like taking two birds with one stone." The busty woman put her hand on her chin pensively.

"Whether the kid has enough power to be the last soul to bring Vergil back is up to Yamato, of course, but we can't take the risk of having Vergil around," said Rebellion, but Lady stopped him.

"Why's that such a bad thing?" said she. "If all he wants is more power, I'm sure Dante here will just kick his ass again."

"That's cute, Lady, but he'll stop at nothing to get more power," answered the white-haired man. "Even if I kick his ass time and again, he won't want to stop."

Rebellion adjusted his glasses, noticing a plot point he noticed he missed, but remained quiet while the planning continued.

* * *

Kid, Sid, Spirit, and Stein were sitting together at the scientist's table in Shibusen. Sid was worried that Black Star's recent training might make him too dangerous for them to handle, even with Death Scythes and Kid's weapons at hand.

"I still think we should give Dante a call, just in case," suggested the revenant man. "I'm sure he'd like to help us here."

"I said Dante will be our last resort, should we fail to stop Black Star." Kid leaned on his chair, visibly frustrated. While he was still stronger than the blue-haired assassin, he knew of Yamato's reputation as Vergil's weapon back when they were still Shibusen students; with Yamato in the equation, the battle might not be in his favor. Further thought reminded the young Shinigami that Black Star would face three opponents, which were he, and the third and ninth strongest technicians to graduate from the academy. Even if they failed, the boy would be low on gas for when he'd face the renowned Devil Hunter, whose power was rumored to surpass even those of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda (Dante's father, of course). Kid's mind returned to the current discussion, where Spirit and Stein were arguing whether to expel Black Star and imprison him, or to suspend him until he's recovered from the influence of the Madness of Power.

"Are we back to this again?" asked the black-and-white-haired boy, rolling his golden eyes. "We agreed to detain him and imprison Yamato; don't waste precious time on this!"

"Right, sorry, Kid," said the redheaded man. "Too bad Justin turned out a traitor; we could've used his talents in this war…"

"Tezca won't be available, either," added the stitched man. "It's funny that these kinds of events usually don't merit the intervention of the other Death Scythes…"

"Speaking of those two," added Sid, "we'll need someone to take over Eastern Europe's branch. Pushka's been under a lot of stress after the war."

"Don't we have anyone over there that can fill the position?" asked Spirit. "We don't want to send one of ours over there yet, especially since we're the ones that get into the most trouble…"

"Sure, but when _they_ have a big incident, we're the first ones to go help?" Stein's eyes rolled in disgust. "That's not very nice, senpai."

Kid crossed his arms on the table and laid his head on them. This reunion was going to take too long for him to bear…

* * *

Beowulf lay with a broken lip and his face bruised, and Yamato next to him drank a glass of something that looked like whiskey or something of the sort; both were naked in the latter's bed. Both silver-haired men looked at each other, and Yamato grinned.

"I guess you'll be off the hook now," he commented nonchalantly before kissing him in the cheek. "But betray us again, and your eye won't be the only thing you'll be missing."

"Thanks for the heads-up," muttered the one-eyed man, who looked down and sulked.

"Don't look so down, Beowulf; Master will be back soon," said Yamato, finishing his glass. "Now let's shower; we leave tonight."

Beowulf stood up and accompanied the other silver-haired man to the bathroom, resisting the urge to murder him then and there; Black Star and Force Edge would decimate him if he did. While they showered, Tsubaki and Black Star were eating silently while Edge read a book. The scene stayed like that for the next five minutes or so, until Yamato emerged from his room, now clothed, with Beowulf behind him. Black Star stood up and smiled.

"Well!" he exclaimed. "Let's go get power!"

"Remember to first do the mission Edge took for you," said Tsubaki, not looking at her Meister. "You do need a warm-up."

"Right, I do," said the blue-haired teen before kissing his weapon partner in the cheek. "Let's kick some ass, then."

Edge closed his book and stood with Yamato and Beowulf before the trio transformed into their weapon forms and accommodated themselves around Black Star. Beowulf, being gloves and greaves, went on the Assassin's hands and feet; Edge transformed into his full blade form and attached to Black Star's back; Yamato turned into a katana that neatly landed on his scabbard and wrapped his sageo around the Meister's waist. Tsubaki stood up and entered her traditional chain-scythe mode, which wrapped across Black Star's shoulder. The assassin's green eyes lit brightly before being covered by star-shaped pupils, and the assassin left the house.

* * *

**finally done with this chapter~ I'm glad we could finish it before the year was over~! anyways, preparations are over! for the next chapter, we'll finally have the action we wanted! sorry to keep postponing it all, jeez~ **

**thank you all for your suggestions~ some of them were already in Klaus's big brain when we read them, so we took them as a green light to use the ideas; others were really good and will be applied in future chapters, so keep 'em comin'!**

**I'm glad Lady was close by so she could bitch-slap Dante cause that was hilarious XDDDD what do you think she'll be doing in this fic? will she be in the backstage as usual, or will she shove Dante into the back and-waaaaaaiiiit, that's not the right fic~~ but she will have stuff to do here too, ne~?**

**I hope you liked Gil and Lucy~ they'll be taking a bigger place in the later chapters, since SOMEONE had to go~ expect more of the goth girl! Gil will be there too, for all those who liked him~**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, and happy new year~! :3**

**~_Humbert_**

**Keep reviewing; your opinions are important. Be sure to be clear, or we'll have a hard time deciphering the message. Happy holidays!**

**-_Klaus_**


	21. Deadly!

Anyone less than two miles away would've thought all the noise was due to the possibility that the wildest party ever was raging and trying to set the new world record for most fireworks. Anyone unfortunate enough to be passing by the street where the noise was coming from would've seen a red figure dancing around while demons tried to catch it only to have their corpses rain on the ground. For Dante and his crew, however, this was the best field day they'd had in a very long time. The Meister's skill was far beyond what the demons could handle, of course; he even stopped for a moment to tauntingly tie his boots while a barrage of pink lasers went through the horde that surrounded him.

"I'm getting bored," commented Dante while he fired countless rounds from Ebony and Ivory at a demon in front of him before quickly blocking an incoming attack from behind with Gilgamesh. "How much further?"

"About a quarter of a mile," responded Artemis. "The pooch said the bar's name is 'The Bloody Palace'… of all names."

"Of all names, indeed," commented Rebellion, who was now in his Meister's hands and sending a wave of energy directly ahead. "If it turns out Trigon is in charge of the other Bloody Palaces we've gone through, I'm gonna get a haircut."

"Aww, then I hope he's not," said Nevan. "You do look good with long hair; doesn't he, Artie?"

"Quit flirting and prepare some Kablooey darts, Artie; I need to snipe some bombs here!" shouted Dante excitedly. He could see five or six Hell Wraths approaching slowly, their orange sacs glowing dimly but noticeably. He aimed his silver gun at each of them, firing an orange dart to each monster. Artemis set them off while Dante passed next to them, making the demons explode loudly, but Dante blocked all the blasts at once using his Royalguard technique.

"Royalguard is broken," muttered Agni.

"Not as broken as the new DLC characters for Smash, though," replied Rudra. "Those counters are OP. I hope they at least nerf Corr—"

"Speaking of counters," intervened Dante, passing through several monsters at once after parrying an attack with a forward palm strike. "How many demons have we taken out so far?"

"275," answered Lucifer. "Can't we just get to the damn bar? We did leave some business unattended in Death City."

"Stein said he'd call us if he needed our help," said Revenant. "I say that three three-star Meisters with their own Death Weapons should be more than capable of handling that brat."

"That brat has Yamato, Beo, Edge and extreme power," reminded Nevan, who was now in Dante's hands and sending bolts of electricity through all the surrounding demons. "I hope Stein and the others take them all down."

"Uh, Dante?" said Rebellion. "Should we tell them?"

"Tell us what?" asked all the other weapons in unison. Cerberus barked questioningly.

"Why did you have to do that, Rebellion?" asked Dante lowly while doing a complicated pirouette in mid-air and impaling a large demon with Lucifer's red blades.

* * *

Dante had finally returned home, smelling of booze and cheap perfume. Beowulf was sitting at the kitchen's counter, awaiting him.

"Heya, Beo," said the white-haired man with a smile. "Had fun with Artie today?"

"Dante, I'm sure you know that Ebony and Ivory ran into Yamato earlier this week?" said the silver-haired man, not returning the gesture.

"I heard something, I think," replied the Meister, making a confused face. He wasn't completely sober, obviously. "Rebellion told you that?"

"Yamato called me earlier today. He knows my phone number and called me to say 'Bless you' after I sneezed." Beowulf's face showed worry. "He's watching me, Dante."

"It's not you he's after, though," intervened Rebellion, emerging from his room with his phone in hand. "Kid called and said he ran into him, too. He said Yamato wants 'a hearing' with Black Star cause of the Madness of Power thing."

"That's just great," muttered Dante, slumping on the apartment's couch. "Whaddaya want me to do about it?"

"Obviously, stop him," replied Beowulf, shocked at the news. He turned to Rebellion and asked, "Wasn't Yamato supposed to be with Nero?"

"Kid said Yamato mentioned something about 'not needing each other anymore' or something like that," answered the black-haired man. "If Yamato has no further use for someone, we both know what he'll do, Dante."

"Son of a bitch…" muttered the Meister. "That kid had potential, and Yamato just killed him…"

"We have to stop him, Dante," repeated Beowulf. "If he's watching me, that means he wants me to help him win over Black Star."

"Why would he want Black Star?" asked Dante. "The kid's good, though not great, so what use could there be for him—? Oh, no."

"'Oh, no?' What the hell does that mean?" asked the scarred man, looking at his white-haired Meister and black-haired Weapon partner.

"Don't tell me he wants to resurrect Ver—?" said Rebellion, looking at Dante with fear.

"Knowing him, it's the most likely option." Dante shook his head violently, as if trying to shake off the alcohol in his system and sober up. "I can't believe it…"

"Is this about the rumors of Yamato sucking or stealing souls, or something like that?" asked Beowulf, remembering the hearsay about his former teammate.

"Yes," answered Rebellion. The trio stayed in silence for a minute, thinking. Finally, Rebellion offered a suggestion. "How about you go with them, Beo?"

"What?! I thought Dante was the drunk one here?" said the scarred man, looking horrified. "Why the hell would I join them again?!"

"To stab them in the back, I guess," said Dante with a hand on his chin, thoughtful. "I guess we could pretend you betrayed us to go with them."

"What the hell does that mean?! What about the others?" Beowulf's pupil shrank, and his silver eye gleamed in terror.

"Well, if we pretend you don't know about Yamato and make sure the others don't tell you, then I guess we could give the appearance—" said Rebellion, but Beowulf interrupted him.

"You do realize I _am_ supposed to know already? Ebby and Ivy passed the news by text." The grey-haired man shook his head. "Besides, do you expect them to believe me to be so shallow once I 'find out' and 'run away'?"

"Ah, you know how they get," said Dante. "We'll just pass them the idiot ball and see them play with it…"

"I admire the faith you have in our friends…" muttered Rebellion, half amused, half offended.

"But Yamato will kill me when he sees me again!" Beowulf seemed to be pleading for mercy from his Meister. "Even if everything goes well on this side, I highly doubt he'll just let me join him…"

"I'm pretty sure Edge will tag along, as well," mentioned the bespectacled man. "I could call him and tell him to go get you and then both of you will go after Yamato."

"Yeah, that sounds like a great plan," snapped the red-clad Meister sarcastically. "If Trish finds out, she won't let me hear the end of it."

"Like how we're doing with 'YOU FUCKED A CAT' to you?" chuckled Rebellion. Dante's eyes gleamed red as he glared at the raven-haired man. Rebellion rolled his eyes and asked, "So did you finally get closure with her, or…?"

* * *

"What I can't believe is how stupid y'all were to fall for that stupid plan," said Gilgamesh while Lucifer was laughing to tears. The rest of Dante's weapons, save for Rebellion, were sitting on the floor with shamed expressions.

"I guess they held the idiot ball for longer than we expected," said Rebellion while cleaning his glasses. "Not even Artie could see through the gaping hole in our plan…"

"I trusted you, Rebellion!" shouted the purple-haired woman, embarrassed. "I can't believe you and Dante would just play us like that!"

"I guess… we are stupid," commented Ebony, looking at her sister. "To think we knew Dante well enough to know when he's lying to us…"

Even Cerberus shared its partners' feelings. It whimpered with all its three heads looking down and its tail between its legs. Revenant started scratching the blue dog's back and said, "Well, no use feeling down about it now… We have to let Beowulf do his job, right?"

"Yes, we do," replied Gilgamesh, still smirking. "That hot piece of ass will get all our help once we get back there, ya hear?"

"Yeah, we hear," replied Nevan, who was examining her nails, seemingly bored. Maybe it was because she didn't spend much time with the crowd until recently, but she wasn't surprised to know that Dante would have things running in the background. She then added, "Now, can we get to Trigon already? I have a date with Spirit later."

"You won't go out with that loser," said Dante with a chuckle. "He's a cheater through and through."

"Well, that's a disappointment," muttered the red-haired woman honestly. She joined her fellow weapons and entered her Weapon form. Dante gathered his armory and entered the Bloody Palace.

* * *

Soul was sitting in Black Star and Tsubaki's couch with his hands on his face. He and Maka had spent the last few nights there while their apartment was being slowly repaired with Dante's earnings, and the couple was hoping the apartment's owners would return of their own free will. The white-haired boy sighed. Maka entered the living room, buttoning up her coat.

"Are you okay, Soul?" asked the pigtailed Meister, worried.

"I'm scared, Maka, even though it's not cool to be…" replied the red-eyed Weapon. "This is Black Star and Tsubaki we're fighting."

Maka sat down beside him and hugged him tenderly. "I know, Soul," she said with a sniffle. "We have to talk some sense into them… I don't want to fight them, either; they're our best friends!"

"This is all that stupid Yamato's fault," said Soul, returning the gesture. "I'm gonna kill him for what he's done to our friends."

"You don't mean that, Soul," said the green-eyed girl, looking at her partner worriedly.

"I wanna take his soul and chew on it slowly right before his eyes," replied Soul, clenching a fist. "That bastard's done too much wrong in the world. He has to pay."

"I know… Stein and Kid will be there too, so at least we have a fighting chance…" Maka held her partner tightly, and a tear escaped from her eye.

"Dammit, Black Star, why do you always have to cause so much trouble?" muttered Soul, who was also starting to cry. The couple started to cry in each other's arms, worried about their lifelong friends and cursing the man that was ruining their happy lives.

* * *

Death the Kid was looking at himself in front of his bathroom mirror when Liz stepped in.

"You've been here for ten minutes, Kid," said the tall blonde. "Are you sure you're ready to face Black Star?"

"To be honest, I'm not ready at all," answered the Shinigami. "We've prepared for this and made a few contingency plans, but I'm still worried about what will happen."

"Black Star is our friend, though," said the girl, crossing her arms. "The least we could do is bring him back to return the favors we owe him."

"That's what scares me," said Kid. His face was paler than usual, and his forehead showed beads of nervous sweat. "Black Star is strong enough to defeat me and bring me back… I'm not sure we are, to do the same…"

"We have to be, Kiddo," said Patti, also entering the bathroom. "We need to stop him, for his sake."

"Tsubaki, too," reminded Liz. "The poor girl is always getting dragged by Black Star, wherever he goes. We need to save her, too."

"For Black Star and Tsubaki, then." Kid raised his fist. "We have to win."

"Yes, we do!" agreed the Thompsons with a nod.

* * *

**Sorry we took so damn long to publish this chapter; we hoped to publish it sooner, but you already know how college works (if you don't, I'll just say it's a bitch). At least we managed to post it now on Spring Break, though. Anyway, the story is slowly drawing to a close! Will Dante triumph over Trigon and his Bloody Palace? Will our Shibusen heroes bring back the great Black Star and Tsubaki? Will Yamato be stopped? Stay tuned for another chapter of _Kishin May Cry_! Leave comments, opinions, etc. in the reviews! Have a happy Easter, for those of you who celebrate that sort of thing.**

**-_Klaus_**


	22. Crazy!

Death City was a city surrounded in sand. It was in Nevada, a desert, so that shouldn't come to a surprise to anyone. However, Stein and Spirit hadn't seen so much sand around them in decades.

"A sandstorm?" muttered the redhead, who had put on sunglasses to cover his eyes. "What the hell?"

"It's funny how the weather seems to know about current events and provides some ambiance," replied Stein, who was trying to light a cigarette. "Where are Kid and Maka?"

"Maka said she's on her way," answered the Death Scythe. "And we can trust Kid will arrive at the designated time and not a second later."

"Right." Stein gave up trying to light his cigarette and put it away, hoping he'd get a chance to light it again. He started to screw the bolt on his head, reviewing the plans the group had made with Dante, including the part where his wife would be entrusted to Lady's care… whoever she was.

* * *

"Who the hell is this?" asked Stein in a monotone that hinted at complete lack of amusement.

"Her name's Lady," said Dante, wrapping his arm around the shorter woman with differently colored eyes, "and she's gonna be of great help if anything goes wrong while I'm away. Hell, you could leave Marie to her care in the meantime!"

"Wait, what?" said the raven-haired woman, her eyes widening and looking at the white-haired man next to her. "You never said I was gonna babysit!"

"Funny," said Stein, "now that I think about it, Marie's contractions should start accelerating this week…"

"You've been monitoring her pregnancy?" asked Dante, surprised.

"Every second. It's a rare opportunity to monitor the development of new life in real-time and with so much access to the specimen…" The scientist's mouth curled into a creepy grin, and Lady could feel her skin crawling. "It's a shame I have to get away from Marie and Shelley for so long…"

"That's cute, Frankie," said Dante, "but it'll just be a couple of hours at most. Now, I really have to go, so you guys have fun!"

* * *

Soul Eater and Maka Albarn were walking out of Death City, now ready to face Black Star and stop Yamato. After a few minutes of walking, they noticed the sandstorm that was surrounding the area where the bait mission and upcoming battle would take place. Maka looked at her partner, who held a solemn expression, and grabbed his hand while they walked together to their destination. They had already shared all that was on their minds, so they remained silent. The pigtailed girl looked to her left and saw the young Shinigami walking close.

"Hey, Kid," greeted the girl. "How you feeling?"

"Feeling is irrelevant today, Maka," replied the golden-eyed boy as the teams approached each other. "What matters now is our duty to Black Star and to this world."

"You make it sound so cool, Kiddo," said Soul, offering a sad smile that was returned by all of his companions. "I guess we have no other choice but to fulfill it, no?"

"About time you showed up," called out Stein's monotone a few meters away from the youngsters. "I trust you all know what you have to do."

In reply, Soul transformed into his weapon form and landed in Maka's hands, as did the Thompson sisters with Kid, and Spirit with Stein. It was now or never…

* * *

Black Star was walking ahead of the group with a smug grin and a haughty attitude, followed closely by Yamato, and then by Edge, Beowulf and Tsubaki. The raven-haired girl kept looking down every now and then, feeling that something had gone terribly wrong in the past few nights. She had a plan, though; once she had the opportunity, she'd take down Yamato… somehow. She knew it was reckless to fight someone so powerful, and that it was foolish to even hope to defeat him, but she wanted her beloved Black Star back to the right path, no matter the cost. She looked up once more, and saw Beowulf looking at her. The scarred man gave her a thumbs-up, unbeknownst to the rest of the team, and Tsubaki's eyes glared at him questioningly. From what Force Edge had told them, Beowulf had apparently left Dante to help Yamato… for whatever he was planning. The girl knew that whatever Yamato had told Black Star wasn't the truth, but she couldn't convince him of it, even when they slept together the previous night.

"We're almost there," announced the spiky-haired boy. "I hope to kick some ass; I need a warm-up before facing Trigon."

"I hope you warm up quickly, then," said Yamato. "We're running out of time."

Tsubaki looked over to Beowulf, who turned to look at her again. This time, the silver-haired man winked at her, which surprised her. For all that she knew, Beowulf was a traitor to all parties, and he was lucky to be with them at all. Black Star decided to stop and talk with Yamato, probably to discuss a battle strategy for whatever enemy they were going to face. Beowulf turned to Tsubaki and started to move his hands. Tsubaki recognized some of the movements; she and Maka, along with a few other of her female classmates, had participated in some activity she could no longer remember correctly, but it was in an Australian all-girls school for the deaf who were happy to have members of Shibusen willing to join them and help them rebuild their school after a hurricane had destroyed half of it. Maka had learned sign language a few years prior and taught Tsubaki quite a bit before that trip so she could be better prepared.

"I'm on your side," said Beowulf through his signs. "Dante sent me here to save you and Black Star."

Tsubaki quickly answered in her best attempts at sign language (she had lost a bit of practice and forgotten a few signs). "How can I trust you?"

Beowulf looked back, noticing that the other three had started walking again, and started to walk backwards after them, but making sure Tsubaki could still see his hands. "Yamato wants to bring Vergil back," his hands said. "Dante told me to tag along because I was the only one who could get back in his pants and earn his trust before I could backstab him.

"Tsubaki, I'm afraid that neither you nor Black Star knows how Yamato plans to bring Vergil back. He wants to take your boyfriend's soul and use its massive power, along with others' souls, to reform Vergil's soul and revive him. I'm here to stop him, but I doubt I can do it alone. Please tell me you'll help me. I'm honestly terrified."

At that last sentence, Beowulf had stopped and looked directly at Tsubaki. His remaining eye showed fear, but it also showed determination. The Light Armor was more than willing to die to finish his assignment, and the Dark Arm nodded. Whatever was necessary to save Black Star, she'd do it. Beowulf turned around, and saw the sandstorm that was near Death City.

"Funny how the weather seems to know what's about to come," Force Edge said loudly. "Are you ready, ladies and gentlemen?"

"Hell yeah, I am," said Black Star, extending his arms. All of Vergil's old weapons surrounded him, and he caught each around him. Beowulf surrounded his hands and feet as gloves and greaves. Force Edge transformed into an enormous blade that seemed like a folded scythe and held onto the blue-haired Meister's back. Yamato entered his scabbard and landed on Black Star's left hand, his golden sageo wrapping around his waist. Tsubaki stood beside her Meister, her hands together and her face looking down.

"What is it, Tsubaki?" asked the Meister. "C'mon, we gotta go!"

"Black Star…"

"Let's go, already," urged the boy, but the girl grabbed his right hand. "What?"

"Whatever happens, I'll be by your side…" said the girl before kissing his cheek. She then transformed into her chain-sickle mode and wrapped herself around Black Star, her chain covering most of his chest.

Black Star remained quiet for a few moments. His hand had subconsciously moved to the spot where Tsubaki kissed him, and he remained frozen for a few seconds while a single tear rolled down his cheek. He shook his face and shook the sudden feeling of regret that was now piercing him sharply, and started to walk.

* * *

A shadow approached the spot in the center of the sandstorm, and Professor Stein cranked his bolt, concentrating.

"About time you showed up," said the scientist.

"What the hell is this?" asked Black Star, surprised. "I'm here to take on a mission—"

"So it was a trap?" said Yamato in a menacing growl. Tsubaki would've started sweating in fear if she was in human form.

"And you're the strongest opponent I'll ever face?" asked Black Star pompously at Stein. "This might be easier than I thought!"

Without letting his former teacher give a witty reply, he dashed forwards, ready to attack. Stein raised his weapon in a defensive posture, and blocked the incoming attack. The assassin leapt back and prepared for another attack when some gunshots forced him to stop.

"Oh, hey, Kid," he greeted angrily. "The hell do you want?"

"You with us, of course," answered the Shinigami, holding his guns with his pinkies on the triggers, as he always did. "Black Star, your pursuit of power will only end in death!"

"It'll end in yours if you don't get out of my way," replied Black Star, grabbing Force Edge and throwing it at his old friend. Kid rolled to dodge the spinning scythe, but it seemed to magically lock onto him, so he was forced to block with his guns. Somehow, however, Force Edge was starting to saw through the silver guns, both of which started to scream in pain. Kid forced his own wavelength through his partners, forcing Edge to return to his Meister, who was battling Stein fiercely with Yamato.

"Your katana skills have grown remarkably," noted the professor while quickly deflecting all of the youngster's attacks. Black Star grabbed the returning blade and started attacking with both weapons. Stein now started to struggle against his former apprentice. "You're not doing bad at all."

"I'm just warmin' up!" said the assassin with a cocky smirk. An incoming wavelength was quickly approaching, but Black Star's heightened senses warned him, so he dodged just in time. "Soul? You're in this too?" asked the blue-haired young man, looking in the direction from which the attack had come from.

"We all have to be, Star-man!" said Soul from Maka's hands. "We're your friends!"

"You're my liabilities," replied Black Star, sending Force Edge towards the pigtailed Meister, and then sending one of Tsubaki's blades through the ground. "You're cutting me off from my power."

"You won't get any if you keep going like that, Black Star!" yelled Maka while blocking the projectile.

"A god must watch over and protect his subjects, not pursue his own goals!" called Death the Kid. "You say you want to be a god, but you're being no more than a fool!"

"Shut up!" yelled the assassin, pulling on the chain that was stuck in the ground. Suddenly, Maka's, Stein's, and Kid's feet were tangled up with the chains from his trap attack. "You're no more than obstacles I have to eliminate from my path! Friends are weaknesses; power only has room for one!"

Maka and Kid fell to the ground, but Stein remained in his feet, though still trapped. Kid took his opportunity and fired a few rounds at his opponent, but he was suddenly surrounded by a blinding light and disappeared. Suddenly, Kid felt a slashing pain come through him while Black Star's wavelength manifested around him as countless slashes. The chains on his feet released him so he could be sent flying from the distanced attack. Maka was freed by Soul, who had managed to stick his hand out to stop the chains from trapping her completely so she could wiggle out of them quickly. She quickly rolled away from the incoming Black Star and the slashes that followed him. The girl leapt towards her old friend, spinning her weapon before slashing at where his feet were, but Black Star was too fast. He had jumped to evade the attack, and he then quickly landed on Soul's blade before kicking Maka hard in the face, sending her reeling. Stein grabbed the chains that bound him and sent his wavelength as a current through Tsubaki directly to Black Star, who became paralyzed from the shock. Kid stood up, bleeding from his wounds, and ran towards the assassin, landing him a knee to the ribs and sending him backwards a few feet.

"That's a rib broken, and two fractured, Black Star," announced Kid, standing his ground while aiming at the blue-haired boy. "Stay down if you don't want any more."

Black Star flipped the bird at the Shinigami and grabbed Tsubaki, forcing her into her Katana form to summon the Infinite Sword style. The black blades flew towards the Shinigami, who started to run and fire at the blades. Meanwhile, Stein and Maka both ran with their scythes in hand towards Black Star, who took Yamato out of his scabbard and started to counter both scythes with both of his katanas.

"When we see a great man desiring power instead of his real goal we soon recognize that he is sick," quoted Maka, whose green eyes were welling up in tears. "Black Star, you need to stop this madness, already!"

"Stop trying to pull me down!" yelled Black Star in reply. His green eyes were covered in yellow stars. "All you've ever done is hold me back! I'm tired of it! I want more power!"

"It's impossible to found a lasting power upon injustice, perjury, and treachery," replied Stein, also quoting. "Real power comes from camaraderie, Black Star. You, of all people, should know this!"

A few rounds found their mark in Black Star's chest, forcing him to drop his guard and allowing Maka to land a fist square in his face.

"The problem with power is that people pay attention to it, and it's very easy to get beside yourself and use it in the wrong way," said Kid, continuing his faraway assault. "We've seen how it affects people, Black Star; we can't lose you to it, too!"

Black Star growled and blocked Spirit's blade with Beowulf before kicking Stein away. He then turned Tsubaki into a giant shuriken and planted her on the ground beside him to block the incoming bullets while he continuously defended himself from Maka and Soul with Yamato. He found an opening and shoved his closest friends away before slashing them more with the Dark Katana.

"You're wasting my time," muttered the assassin lowly while amplifying his own soul's wavelength, starting to tune it with all of his fellow weapons. "Soul Resonance!"

"Well, I'm gonna have to stop you right there…" announced Beowulf, finding his chance.

"NO!" Yamato yelled, suddenly aware of what was about to happen.

* * *

"Damn, I kinda wanna dance," said Rebellion as he, Dante, and the rest of the troupe entered the Bloody Palace. The music was catchy, and the bespectacled man couldn't help but bob his head slightly to the beat.

"I wanna dance with you," replied Artemis, drawing closer to the Magic Claymore, who didn't seem to mind the company.

Dante neared the bar, and a tall, well-built bartender attended him.

"What'll it be?" asked the bartender.

"An orange juice and a slice of Trigon for breakfast," said Dante with a smirk. It seemed as though everything around him and his partners suddenly muted.

"You must be Dante," said the Bartender, who seemed to be getting bigger. "The Son of Sparda."

"Yeah, yeah, I know the speech already," said the white-haired hunter dismissively. "Can I get to talk to Fugly, or do I have to pass 101 floors again?"

"You shall not disrespect the Dark Lord of Power!" announced Trigon, who was now standing where the bartender once was. His crimson skin accentuated his yellow eyes, all four of which were glaring at Dante, who seemed a lot tinier by comparison. His weapons approached him, but Dante's confident smile never changed. "I shall restore my honor by defeating the bastard son of the one who put me down!"

Dante yawned tauntingly. "If I had a dollar for all the times anyone has told me that…" His plethora of weapons was now all around him, and he was ready to fight.

* * *

**Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter, but at least I managed to! Now, I need some sleep; I'm supposed to be doing a project and I'm still on the drawing board with it.**

**Wait, right. I have to discuss the chapter... Um, well... Ugh, I'll let my brother handle that. I'm too tired.**

_**-Klaus**_

**Well lol poor Klaus :P anyways, yeah! new chapter! fights are starting! it's kinda funny how people put apostrophes where they're not supposed to go... like in plurals of something XD (car's instead of cars, and stuff like that) back to the matter at hand, it looks like Black Star had a twinge of regret?! what was he regretting? :o also, whaddaya think Beowulf did to interrupt Black Star and Yamato?! dammit Klaus at least let us see what happened! blegh he does that all the time XD but coming up next, we have Dante starting his battle against Trigon! who d'you think will win? ...oh, right. Dante's supposed to win; we have more chapters incoming XD whoops, spoilers! anyways, leave your thoughts as reviews! we wanna hear from you (even if Klaus is tired af) .w.**

_**~Humbert**_


	23. Bingo!

If Dante had to guess, he'd have to say he had spent no less than three minutes without touching the ground; he had been leaping around, using enemies as footstools during combat. The demon hunter was grateful he had stretched before entering the Bloody Palace. He hadn't had a workout like this in a long time, and, had he not stretched, he would've pulled a muscle or had a cramp.

"Hold still, boy!" roared Trigon, who sent a wave of dark energy from his eyes at the red-clad man. A small horde of demons that surrounded the monster also went towards Dante. The young man bounced over a somewhat larger demon and pulled out his guns, rapidly spinning and firing them downwards in a rainstorm of bullets.

"Dante," called out Rebellion, "have we done any real damage to Trigon?"

"No idea," replied the Meister. "Artie, Lucy, damage assessment!"

"We're perfectly fine," announced the silver backpack. "I daresay we haven't had any damage whatsoever since last week."

"I can't say much about Trigon, though," said Artemis. "I've a lock on him, but he irradiates too much power for me to say whether all we've given him has been effect—BLITZ AT FIVE O' CLOCK!"

"Ah, shit, I hate Blitzes…" groaned Dante, noticing the electric demon's flashes around the area. "Artie, keep your lock on Trigon!"

"Got it!" replied the Laser Gun.

"You ready, Gil?" asked Dante, equipping his rainbow gloves and greaves set.

"Ready when you are, Dante!" answered Gilgamesh. In that exact moment, the Blitz demon appeared underneath the red-clad Meister.

"Then let's go!" Dante pulled out Ebony and Ivory and unleashed another rainstorm of bullets onto the Blitz before aiming a dive-kick at it. In the exact moment his foot connected to the demon's face, he adopted his Royalguard stance, absorbing all of the recoil damage the Blitz would deal back. Dante repeated the little process a few more times until he noticed he had descended quite a bit. He pulled out a few blades from Lucifer and turned sideways; each time a blade pierced the Blitz, Dante would block again. Eventually, after a few repetitions, the Blitz stopped glowing with electricity and stood still, stunned. Trigon seemed to notice that Dante was about to unleash a powerful attack and moved in.

"He's coming, Dante!" called out Artemis. "His fists are glowing!"

"Good," replied the Meister, grinning. "Let's rock!"

Dante landed on the ground for the first time in the last few minutes and pulled out Nevan. He quickly started playing an arpeggio that kept accelerating until it was a solo worthy of a worldwide concert, and thousands of bats came to surround him while a thunderstorm emanated from the purple guitar. Trigon kept going at him, and his fist entered the swarm of bats and lightning and met a target… who happened to be the paralyzed Blitz. The Blitz exploded on his hand, causing enough damage to make Trigon bellow in pain and rage. Dante reappeared behind the Dark Lord of Power, a tripartite set of nunchucks in hand, and started walloping at the monster's feet, freezing both the limbs and the ground beneath them. Trigon turned around and was about to aim another attack at the hunter, but his target vanished and he slipped in the confusion.

Dante seemed to be flying all around the room. He was using a precise sequence of his Trickster and Royalguard styles to move around quickly and block all incoming attacks. A few more flying demons appeared, but Dante quickly shot them dead with Revenant before continuing his flight. An instant later, he appeared in front of Trigon, who was trying to get up from the floor, but his feet were bound together with thick ice.

"What's up?" taunted Dante with a clap and a smirk. Trigon roared and fired another wave of energy from his eyes, but completely missed his target again. "Can't keep up?" called the Demon Hunter, who was standing on top of Trigon's head, before jumping, grabbing Agni and Rudra, and spinning with the blades all the way back to the floor. Dante quickly aimed a few dozen of Lucifer's blades at Trigon, all of which impaled the demon in different spots. Trigon swung an arm, trying to luck out in swatting the red-clad man, but Dante reappeared elsewhere and fired off Artemis' darts before charging her with pink energy from his soul wavelength. Another swarm of demons tried to attack Dante, but he parried the first's attack and ran through the group within the same counterattack, slaying them all at once. He finally appeared over Trigon and let Artemis' lasers fly loose, gathering in countless pink orbs that started raining on the demon while Dante let yet another storm of bullets rain down on Trigon with Ebony and Ivory. A huge explosion surrounded the area, and Dante put on some sunglasses he had stolen from Kid a few days ago to enjoy the view.

"That was more disappointing than that time you fought that witch," commented Rebellion. "What was her name? Gun-Blade? Cherry?"

Before Dante could recall and reply, a loud roar sent the Meister and his armory back a few feet. Trigon emerged from the settling smoke, heavily injured, though not finished, it seemed.

"You fool," roared the enormous monster. "You think I'm called the Lord of Power without a reason to back it up?"

"Ah, I wouldn't know," answered Dante with a smirk and a shrug. "You're all wimps to me, just like you were to my dad."

* * *

"L…Lady?" called out Marie Mjolnir from her couch. The raven-haired woman entered the room with a face that showed she was trying to contain her feeling of annoyance. "I'm sorry to call you at this moment, but I need the hospital…"

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," replied the huntress before running towards the blonde. Showing impressive strength, she lifted Marie up and carried her to the car that was in the garage. "Stay here while I find the keys," instructed Lady, but Marie stopped her.

"They're in the driver's seat," explained the weapon. "Frankie has the bad habit of leaving them there."

"Perfect," said Lady, helping her companion enter the car before hopping in, herself, and driving to the hospital.

* * *

"That's rather underwhelming," commented Agni.

"Wait, can we say something like 'under-underwhelming'?" asked Rudra.

"Well, we have the word 'disappointing,'" answered Revenant.

"Yeah, so Trigon is very disappointing," snapped Ebony. "Can we kick his ass already?"

"He's not done talking," replied Lucifer. "Let him run his mouth; it's impolite to interrupt."

"I'm itchin' to run my fist across his face," muttered Dante, opening and closing his fists impatiently.

"…and now, you've broken my outer shell, so all my power can be unleashed!" said Trigon. Apparently, what Dante and crew had damaged was an outer layer of sorts, and now Trigon could unleash more power or something like that. The demon's skin had changed from red to dark purple, and his yellow eyes now burned red.

"Okay," replied Dante in a loud monotone, showing a flat expression. He knew what he was doing.

"You've disrespected me for the last time, boy!" roared Trigon before rushing at the white-haired hunter.

Dante chuckled and blocked the incoming attack perfectly, but Trigon seemed faster now. The demon started to unleash a barrage of fists at the Meister, who blocked each and every one of them, but at the cost of some stamina.

"Dante, are you actually breaking a sweat?" asked Gilgamesh, surprised.

"Well, I think I could try the Geryon effect with you," answered Dante, who was doing his best at blocking every single hit without receiving any damage. "Let's go! Soul Resonance: Quicksilver Style!"

Dante and Gilgamesh's souls started to synchronize their wavelengths and suddenly, everything around them seemed to slow down. The rest of the weapons joined in the resonance to amplify the effect, and everything immediately froze.

"Huh," said Gilgamesh, "I guess it's a bit harder to do it with me?"

"Beowulf learned the skill by himself so we wouldn't have to waste time resonating," explained Dante, who had stopped blocking and was now catching his breath, taking advantage of the nearly unlimited time he now had. "Now, let's see how we can handle this ass."

Dante teleported to in front of Trigon's face and landed a kick with Gilgamesh before jumping off the demon and grabbing Nevan, strumming a chord, and changing to Agni and Rudra. He let out a string of attacks with each of his weapons onto the demon's head before quickly landing on the floor behind Trigon and adopting a certain stance in which he was charging power. Time returned to its normal speed and Trigon felt the effects of the counter-combo and stepped back to right in front of Dante, who had gathered enough power and released it all in an uppercut that sent Trigon reeling a few meters. When Dante landed from the attack, he was in Devil Trigger form, smirking his devilish grin.

"Are we done yet here, Trigon?" taunted the red-clad devil. "I've a date later."

"With Lady or with Blair?" asked Rebellion, curious.

"With Nonna," replied Dante, who hadn't taken his eyes off Trigon, who was now enraged and returning to his feet.

"Who the hell is Nonna?" asked Ivory.

"Nonna your damn business," snapped Dante with a chuckle, and the rest of the weapons chanted "Ooooooooooh, buuuuurn!" at Rebellion and Ivory.

"You're not strong enough to defeat me, Son of Sparda!" roared Trigon, who was wounded but ignored it.

"Yeah, and your skin is white," replied the red-clad devil sarcastically. "Let's finish this."

"Gladly," said Trigon before rushing at Dante, who had taken out Rebellion.

The two demons ran at each other, one with its claws glowing purple, and the other with his sword glowing red. When the two passed each other, Dante was smirking and Trigon was snarling. The hunter looked back at the Lord of Power, who knelt after a few seconds.

"Impossible…" groaned Trigon, sounding defeated.

"You can go back to hell," suggested Dante, putting Rebellion back on his back, "or you can die here. It's your choice, pal."

"I've been defeated once…" answered Trigon, who hadn't moved. "Your father was a fearsome warrior, and worthy of being called mighty… but you, Dante… You've proven that you're his son by surpassing him. I'll stay here; I'll die anyway, even if I return to Hell. Your brother came to me decades ago…"

"Huh?" Dante looked back at the dying demon, stunned. "Vergil was here?"

"He was searching for more power… and he tried to face me. I spared him out of spite, urging him to challenge me again when he was ready…" Trigon chuckled. "…it seems he'll never get the chance…"

With that said, Trigon vanished, leaving behind his demonic soul, which Cerberus quickly caught. Dante shook his head. Vergil was here, wanting more power… That would explain why Yamato knew about Trigon and why he'd want to challenge him with Black Star. Suddenly, Dante remembered the blue-haired assassin and ran to get his motorcycle, hoping he wouldn't be late…

* * *

Yamato wondered where he went wrong. Everything had been planned for this moment, months in advance, and here he was, having his plans foiled by a backstabber… or, rather, three backstabbers.

"It's over, Yamato," called Beowulf proudly while he, Force Edge, and Tsubaki stood between him and Black Star, who seemed to be petrified. When Yamato had tried to resonate his soul wavelength with the assassin's, the other three weapons countered the move by resonating with each other to produce a counter-wavelength similar to Maka and Dante's Anti-Madness wavelengths produced by their Angel Souls. The result froze Black Star, though it didn't harm him, and forced Yamato back into his human form. Stein, Maka, Kid, and their respective partners approached the group, hoping they'd won.

Yamato, however, rolled his eyes and chuckled lowly.

* * *

**Finally, the chapter is out! Sorry for the delay, everyone; we're working on a few class projects while writing this, but I bet you already know that. Still, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Dante finally defeated Trigon, just like he defeated Abigail in the anime, or Mundus in DMC1, so it didn't take too long, especially if you're an expert player (by the way, have you seen Devil May Cry combo videos? I can't do half the things they do in those, but they're amazing nonetheless). I'm glad the Devil Hunter is finally out of that mess; he has to go help back in Death City! What do you hope will happen next? Leave your thoughts as reviews; we care about your opinion! The next chapter will be out relatively soon; the series is nearing its end!**

_**-Klaus**_

**...did Klaus just do a good author's note?! .-. I wonder why he told me to do an A/N in that case...**

_**~Humbert**_


	24. Atomic!

"Did you really think I'd go all this way and not have any backup plans?" said Yamato. Beowulf's eyes widened, as did Tsubaki's and Force Edge's. The busty girl immediately moved to protect Black Star, but she was too slow; Yamato reached him first and pushed the girl away. "The things you learn over the years… Soul Possession!" chanted the silver-haired weapon, smiling evilly and tapping Black Star's forehead. The blue-haired boy stood up slowly, grabbing the katana and adopting an offensive stance.

"What the hell?!" said Soul, surprised. "That's not fair!"

"When you did your chain resonance, you dampened out Black Star's wavelength to cancel our resonance, allowing me easier access to his body," explained Yamato through Black Star's mouth as the assassin's body was quickly tested by the possessor through a few stretches. "You've delayed my plan, but it'll make it easier for me to finish you off!"

Stein's mind worked quickly enough to keep the other weapons safe. He called out, "Beowulf, Edge, Tsubaki, team up with us!"

Beowulf immediately ran to Kid, who was eager to join with a symmetrical weapon. Tsubaki ran to Maka, who had previous experience with the chained weapon. Edge walked to Stein, who gave him a questioning look.

"Trish had sent me to look for Yamato once we heard of Nero's death," explained the blue-haired weapon. "Once we finish this, I'm gonna have a word with Dante; both my Meister and I are rather disappointed that he didn't show up to the funeral."

"So you were the first to betray me, Edge?" called out Yamato through Black Star's mouth. The possessed assassin immediately ran to Stein, who had taken the sword/scythe, and attacked. The scientist quickly defended himself.

"You have what you want now, Yamato," said Stein, who engaged the pair in combat. "Why haven't you taken his soul and revived Vergil already?"

"We were meant to eliminate the Demon Trigon before bringing back my master," said Yamato. "Though this shell is powerful as it is, we need more demonic power. This boy's madness isn't enough yet."

"Then that means we still have a fighting chance!" called out Tsubaki from Maka's hands. She transformed into a giant shuriken before being thrown by the pigtailed girl. Black Star dodged easily, but left himself open to Kid's fire.

"You've forgotten what Shibusen is capable of, Yamato!" called out the Shinigami, quickly approaching Black Star and starting to deal many punches from different angles with Beowulf. Yamato roared, though not in pain, making his wavelength to occupy the small space between Black Star and Kid as slashes, forcing the black-and-white-haired young man to retreat. "At this rate, Black Star's body will be completely useless to you! I just broke five more ribs!"

"At this rate, you'll kill your friend; I don't need his body!" laughed Yamato. He made Black Star turn around to fight Maka, who was coming at the pair with Tsubaki's ninjato form. The assassin stopped the girl's attack, grabbing her wrist and twisting it until it broke. Maka screamed in pain, but Soul took his chance and landed a deep cut into his best friend's back. However, Black Star turned slowly and kicked him square in the face, knocking him out instantly with the force of the blow.

* * *

"Hello?!" Lady had never helped anyone in labor, and she was panicking more than Marie was. Then again, Stein had explained to his wife about what was supposed to happen during their daughter's birth, so she remained as calm as she could. "I need someone here! This woman's in labor!"

A nurse or two quickly came in to aid Marie, who told them to be gentle; it seemed her baby was moving a bit. Once they took the blonde in, Lady sighed in relief. Dante was a pro at leaving the annoying work to her, though he usually did the heavy lifting… and sometimes her… in return. That reminded Lady to ask about a certain rumor that had reached her ears the moment she had arrived at Shibusen and met Marie. It had something to do with Dante and some other chick, but she didn't really pay attention; she wanted to get paid.

Her phone rang.

"Yeah?" asked Lady once she learned that the caller was Dante. "You left me to help Marie, not bring her to the hospital, you know."

"Really?" asked Dante, though the background noise was making it a bit hard to understand him. "Well, I didn't know. Anyways, I recommend you get to the desert; I've a feeling I'll need your help."

"Are we getting paid for this?" asked the huntress, annoyed.

"I'll pay you anything you want after that, dammit!" Dante sounded serious, but Lady knew she'd get whatever she wanted from him anyway. "But I really need your help! Yamato wants to bring back Vergil—"

"I know that, Dante; you told me already."

"—and we need to stop him! I'll have Rebellion text you the directions to where you need to go; please hurry!" After saying that, Dante hung up.

Lady groaned in annoyance. "The things I do…"

* * *

Dante was driving his motorcycle at nearly breakneck speeds, though it wasn't his first time, on his way back to Death City. After defeating Trigon, he knew he had to stop Yamato and make sure he wouldn't be free to try to revive his brother again.

"Dante," called Rebellion, who was strapped to him in his weapon form along with the rest of the troupe, "are you certain that Vergil will be back?"

"Not if we can stop Yamato," replied the red-clad Meister. "But Yamato will kill that kid if we're too slow; he doesn't need his body!"

"But I thought a sound soul—" asked Ivory, but the white-haired man interrupted her.

"I know the intro, Ivy, but I think Yamato found a way around that!" said Dante. "Either that, or he has something else planned!"

* * *

"Maka, Kid, I'll need you to perform a Chain Resonance!" said Stein to his pupils. "Maka, I'll need your Anti-Madness Wavelength!"

"Yes, sir!" replied both Meisters, resonating their souls with their partners' and then with each other's.

Within Maka's mind, she, Tsubaki and Soul quickly started a conversation.

"I've a bad feeling about this, Maka," said Soul, who had recovered in a matter of minutes after being knocked out. "This bastard has everything well thought-out. I doubt we can do anything to stop 'im…"

Maka shook her head impatiently and said, "No matter what we do, we must keep going."

"We have to, for Black Star's sake," replied Tsubaki, who was there too. "Start playing your tune; we might at least stop the Madness! We can't doubt ourselves now!"

"Yes, ma'am!" replied the white-haired youngster, who started to play on the grand piano that was in the room of their Resonance.

Outside, Stein had resonated with both Maka and Kid, and the girl's Anti-Madness wavelength was quickly spread across the battlefield through her resonance with her Death Scythe. It didn't seem to stop Yamato and Black Star, though, but Stein and Kid were at least able to unleash more of their power.

"It's time you finally faced judgment, Yamato," said Kid, whose Sanzu lines started to glow and transform into three halos that surrounded his head. "This won't be painless, but it will be quick."

"So you say," replied Yamato. Kid transformed his guns into massive cannons through their resonance, and he aimed at the assassin in front of him. "You won't kill your friend, Death," called Yamato. "You'll have to, though, if you want to stop me."

"I'm only the backup," replied the God of Death.

Stein had rushed directly at the assassin, who quickly retreated to combat the scientist fiercely. Maka had gone to battle too, but she was fighting from afar with Tsubaki's chain-scythe mode; Maka wasn't proficient with the weapons and she couldn't perform the techniques Black Star could, but Tsubaki said she'd help all she could, even if that meant being wielded by a "beginner." The pigtailed Meister was having a hard time helping, though, because of her broken wrist.

"Soul Menace: Purge!" proclaimed Stein as soon as he found an opening, and he planted his palm on Black Star's chest, ready to separate the boy's soul from the weapon's. However, nothing happened.

"My soul can adapt to anyone's soul, Stein," announced Yamato, defending himself and forcing Stein to retreat. "How do you think I've had so many wielders?"

"You've grown quite a bit since we studied together," noted the scientist. "Back in the day, you'd only let Vergil hold you."

"Now I can also use whoever I possess… and their skills, too," replied Yamato. He made Black Star rush at blinding speed towards Stein and started to fight him with surprising dominance over him. Maka ran in to assist, but Yamato's control over Black Star was near-perfect, and he landed a hit on her stomach that sent her backwards with incredible force. He made Stein retreat a few steps, which was all he needed to quickly send a Judgment Cut at Kid, forcing the Shinigami to cancel out his cannons and move.

Yamato turned back to Stein and quickly disarmed him, much to everyone's surprise.

"You've gotten slow in your old age, Franken," commented the weapon while Black Star and Stein fought bitterly. Stein's stamina was immense, but Yamato had turned off the assassin's inhibitions, making the body able to take in any hit and return as much without any problems, chipping away at the bespectacled man's endurance.

Kid was trying to get a clear shot at Yamato, but the weapon was making it insanely difficult; every time he could spot an opening, Yamato moved Black Star's body out of the way or moved Stein's into it. Maka, on the other hand, was afraid to enter the brawl; she was adept in hand-to-hand combat, but Black Star and Stein's levels were way off her league, and she knew Yamato would make it much harder than it already was. It was all she could do to maintain the Anti-Madness wavelength to keep Stein in line while in combat.

"I believe I have all I need now," said Yamato excitedly, quickly running towards Maka, leaving Stein startled.

"No you don't!" exclaimed Soul, leaping in front of his Meister, ready to defend her. However, Black Star stopped at Soul and landed a kick to his jaw, knocking him out immediately.

"SOUL!" yelled Maka, terrified, but the damage had been done; the Anti-Madness wavelength wasn't being broadcast around the battlefield anymore without the amplifier that was Soul, and Yamato quickly ran back to Stein, who was trying to catch his breath while picking up his weapons…

* * *

Marie was wondering if her husband was doing well; her labor lasted less than she expected, and it went as Stein said it would. An hour was enough for her to have their baby, and an adorable baby girl with platinum blonde hair was sleeping in her arms. Marie had never seen anything so beautiful in her life, and she was thankful to all the gods that Shelley was alive and well now… The weapon remembered to thank that woman named Lady as soon as she could come visit. Shelley started to cry, and Marie got worried; she had already fed her for the first time two minutes ago…

* * *

"Professor, watch out!" called Kid, who was shooting at Black Star but failing to immobilize him due to Yamato's neutralization of the assassin's pain receptors.

Stein looked up just in time to block the first attack, but was too exhausted to do any more. Yamato made Black Star stab the professor directly in the heart, and Stein looked at his former pupil.

"Well…" said the professor, who was quickly running out of heartbeats. "Not bad… Still, Soul Thread Sutures…" With that, Black Star's body became immobilized, but Stein wasn't done; he was going to do all he could in his last seconds. "Soul Menace… Twin Spears…"

"Soul Absorption!" countered Yamato, sealing the deal. "Your and this boy's Madness is all I need. However, the boy's soul isn't ready yet to be consumed… yours will have to do, though, since you're on par with him. Farewell, Franken Stein."

"Black Star…" said Stein, using his last breath. "…don't let it control you… you're better than this…" His eyes lost focus and he muttered, "Fascinating… I wonder if I can dissect that…"

Professor Stein's body fell as if in slow motion. His arms fell to his sides, extended, and his eyes remained closed while his breath stilled. Spirit and the Shibusen students present screamed in terror. Yamato, however, exited his weapon form, holding Stein's soul in his hand, contemplating it. How fitting that Yamato's quest for power would end with the soul of someone who wanted knowledge, since knowledge is power… Black Star's soul would recover, though; Yamato had only taken out all the Madness within him since he had already gathered more than enough power with Stein alone. The boy fell unconscious, considering Stein's sutures dissipated as soon as he died and allowed his body to move once more.

"Now, Master…" said Yamato lowly. "I call you back from Hell!" He resonated his wavelength with those of all the souls he had collected as he summoned his Master.

Kid, Maka, and their partners couldn't do anything to stop him. Besides the fact that they were stunned by the death of Stein and paralyzed by their wounds, Yamato had manifested his soul as a shield during the massive resonance, preventing even Kid to pierce through it to stop him. The sky around them turned red as a portal opened in front of Yamato and a figure slowly stepped up.

The figure was dressed in purple and gold, with white hair combed backwards, gray skin with blue veins here and there, and red eyes.

* * *

**In loving memory of Franken Stein (1981-2016)**

**_"The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery." _\- Anaïs Nin**


	25. Stylish!

Death the Kid had to admit he was impressed with Yamato's work, regardless of the process and objectives. The silver-haired man had managed to resonate hundreds of souls to open a portal to another dimension, in this case Hell, similar to the way Witches could enter their Realm. If the circumstances were different, Kid would've definitely wanted to discuss the research the Weapon had done to come to this and the theories behind it all; it was obvious the man was a genius in his own right… though probably not as smart as Stein was, but the scientist now lay in front of him and Maka, his lifeless body being pushed slowly by the sandstorm's receding winds until Liz and Patti ran to hold it.

Maka, on the other hand, was too emotional to be impressed. Her teacher and mentor had been killed by the same man that corrupted her best friend and now brought back his power-hungry master back from the dead. She couldn't do anything to stop Yamato, however. Her Soul Perception showed her a barrier created by the multiple souls in the massive resonance while the portal was open. Besides, her arm was broken and her partner was knocked out. Maka looked at Kid, who nodded and told her to retreat.

Beowulf and Force Edge weren't sure how to react to the current events. On one hand, they were impressed to see Yamato's determination and hard work pay off, as his old comrades. On the other, they knew what the dark katana had done was completely immoral (killing so many people just to bring Vergil back, that is), and they were terrified of the white-haired Meister's cold stare into the distance.

"What can we do, Edge?" asked the one-eyed man to his blue-haired companion. "There's only one Meister here to wield us, and I'm still uncertain of his ability to take on the Master…"

"Stop calling him that," muttered Edge, glaring at his former Meister. "We need to wake up the boy so we can stall until Dante arrives."

"Well, I don't know how we'll do that…" commented Beowulf, looking at where Black Star's body was being tended by a distraught Tsubaki. "He doesn't seem to wanna wake up…"

* * *

"Hello?" answered the woman with a serious voice.

"Is this Azusa? Name's Lady. Dante gave me your number in case anything happened in the mission Kid and Stein went to," said Lady, moving quickly to the DWMA.

"Yes, it's me; Dante gave you my number?" Azusa was still serious, but was more relaxed now just from the mention of her former classmate's name. "What can I do for you?"

"Dante says you're a gun or something like that; I'm gonna need your assistance so we can help Stein and the others." Lady looked up at the academy's stairs and cursed inwardly before starting to jog her way upstairs.

"I'm a sniper rifle," corrected the Death Weapon, "but any help that Kid and Stein need is help I will provide. Where are you?"

"At these damn stairs," replied the woman with heterochromia. "How the hell do the kids walk up these every day?"

"It's to build their stamina and to strengthen their legs," said Azusa, who adjusted her glasses and walked outside of Shibusen to meet with Lady. "Have you ever done a Soul Resonance?"

"Not that I can remember," answered Lady truthfully, finally finding the bespectacled woman Dante had told her about. "I see you now," added the huntress while hanging up and running over to Azusa. Both women looked at each other and noticed they looked similar, save for Lady's eyes, messier hair and better-endowed body. If the situation was another, they'd probably ask each other out to know each other better. Unfortunately, today was not the day for many things. They shook each other's hands, Lady smirking and Azusa with her serious face, and they walked together to a vantage point that Azusa knew well.

"Have you at least handled a sniper rifle?" asked Azusa while adjusting her black blazer and staring at Lady's many holsters and magazine packs around her waist and hips, and the rocket launcher that hung from the white-clad woman's shoulder.

"Guns are my forte," replied Lady confidently while pulling out a magazine that contained high-caliber bullets designed for sniper rifles. "What kinda sniper are you? Armalite? Barrett? Falcon? Hecate?" Azusa shook her head at each suggestion, and Lady hesitantly asked, "...perhaps a Lahti L-39?" while remembering Dante's old weapon friend Uzumaki (nicknamed Spiral).

Azusa rolled her eyes impatiently and asked, "Don't you have experience with Dante's guns?"

Lady quickly realized what she was saying and planted her palm on her forehead, commenting, "Right, no ammo for Weapon people…" She then extended her hands, waiting for Azusa.

The bespectacled woman smiled in relief and transformed into an enormous brown and yellow crossbow-shaped rifle with a black musket and a sniper scope. Lady was impressed, to say the least.

"We should go out on missions someday," commented the white-clad huntress, admiring the Death Weapon in her hands.

"Focus on the task at hand, Lady," reminded Azusa.

"Yes, ma'am," replied the huntress, taking aim and peering through the scope. "Now, where are you, kids…? Oh, fucking hell. Do you see what I'm seeing, Azusa?"

"If you're seeing Stein and Black Star on the floor and who I presume are Yamato and Vergil standing," replied the rifle, "then yes. Whether we're too late for Stein and Black Star is irrelevant if we can take out Yamato and Vergil, though. Get ready."

Lady breathed deeply, calming herself down and slowing her heartbeat (her heart was still thumping both from the jog and the excitement of a rifle like Azusa), before releasing the safety… except it wasn't there. She mentally kicked herself for still thinking of the weapon in her hands as a regular gun while placing her finger on the trigger and her eye on the targets.

* * *

"This place seems familiar…" muttered Vergil thinly.

"Y-yes, Vergil. We're in Nevada, near Death City," said Yamato, whose heart was thumping wildly at the sight of his old friend.

"Why're we here? This is one of the last places either of us wants to be in…" Vergil's red eyes scanned the area and noticed Beowulf and Force Edge, who stepped back at the half-demon's glare. "Why are they here?"

"This is where I could finally set up the last bit of my plan to bring you back in motion…" explained the silver-haired man. "They," he gestured towards his ex-comrades with his head, "they tried to stop me by backstabbing me just when it was coming to fruition…"

Vergil's eyes narrowed. "They'll face the consequences of trying to foil our plans… What's that noise?"

If Yamato hadn't trained with Vergil for all the years he had, his hearing wouldn't have been sharp enough to catch the sound of a sniper rifle firing. He quickly transformed into his weapon form and landed in Vergil's hand fast enough for the Meister to quickly deflect the bullet into the portal that was now closing.

* * *

"Shit!" exclaimed Lady, a few kilometers away. "I forget that he's so fast!"

"How the hell did Dante beat his brother if he's that fast?" asked Azusa, impressed and terrified.

"Dante's as strong as Vergil is fast, plus Dante loves to move around while Vergil needs to stay concentrated," replied the huntress, firing another three rounds before leaving the vantage point just in time to dodge one of Vergil's cyan Summoned Swords. Lady took aim again and fired quickly, showing superior ability with the sniper, before quickly moving again.

* * *

Vergil blocked yet another bullet with a bored expression.

"Pathetic," he muttered before quickly running in the direction of the shots' origin. He looked at Beowulf and Edge while adding, "I'll deal with you later." The purple-clad man then vanished from view.

Beowulf and Edge sighed in relief.

"Thought he was gonna kill us right here and now," muttered Edge. He turned to Beowulf and asked that question that lingered in his head for a while: "So how exactly did you get to convince Yamato to let you join? Did you really sleep with him?"

"Uh, well," Beowulf's face turned red. "M-maybe... Hadn't had that much fun in a while… B-but that's not the point! What're we gonna do? He's free to do whatever he wants again!"

"Not unless we stop him," intervened Kid, approaching the duo. "With or without Dante, Vergil has to be stopped. I don't know if I can take him—"

"You probably can't," interrupted the blue-haired man with an honest expression.

"Damn, Edge, way to be supportive," snapped Beowulf with a glare.

"—but regardless, we must do our best," finished the Shinigami as if nothing happened.

While Kid talked to the two weapons, Tsubaki was still trying to wake Black Star up.

"Please, Black Star…" she said for the umpteenth time. She tried to resonate her soul wavelength to her Meister's, but the boy's soul seemed to be muted. He was alive though; his body seemed to be in a deep sleep, though not comatose. Tsubaki sobbed again, desperate to bring him back. "Please…"

At that moment, a motorcycle's roar could be heard approaching. Tsubaki looked up and saw Dante and his armory entering the scene. The red-clad hunter dismounted and surveyed the area before rapidly approaching Tsubaki.

"Sorry I'm late," said the white-haired man. He then looked at Black Star, who was still immobile, and asked, "Is he…?"

"No, thank goodness," replied the girl. "But I can't resonate with his soul… Beowulf, Edge and I had cancelled out his and Yamato's resonance with a dampening resonance of our own… Black Star's soul was muted in the process, though I think it was damaged after Yamato took out all the madness within him."

"Well, that's pretty easy to fix for me," said the hunter. "Maka! C'mere; I need your help!"

"Dante's here!" said the pigtailed Meister, relieved. She left Soul, who was recovering just now, and ran to her friends' aid. "What can I do?"

"I need you to perform a Soul Resonance with me," replied Dante. "Our Grigori Souls' purifying properties can make Black Star's recover its wavelength."

"Are you sure? I'd never heard of that," said the green-eyed girl, nervous.

"Some of us have done research outside of school," replied Lucifer, transforming into a human. "Though most of it hasn't been published yet, we have enough practice to tell if it works."

"Like Yamato," added Rebellion, also transforming into his human form along with the rest of Dante's weapons. "You can tell he's spent a lot of time sciencing the shit out of all this, right? Guy's a genius, though an evil bastard of one. Shame there's no way he'll come out of this alive…"

Maka's face blanched, and she looked at Dante, who smirked reassuringly. He held out his hand to the girl, who took it nervously, and they performed their soul resonance. Black Star's eyes opened after a few seconds.

"Told you it'd work," Dante told Maka with a smile. The pigtailed Meister blushed in pride. Tsubaki kept looking at Black Star, whose eyes started to water.

"Black Star…?" asked the busty black-haired girl.

"…I'm so sorry, Tsubaki…" sobbed the young man quietly. "…I'm so sorry for everything I've done…"

"Shh, it's okay, Black Star," replied the Dark Arm, letting a tear roll down her cheek. "We're here and we're alive…"

"No… I don't deserve to be… I've loved you out of spite…" Black Star started crying sourly. It was obvious he regretted everything he'd done until then.

Meanwhile, Dante, Ebony, Ivory and Rebellion rushed to Liz and Patty, who were tending to Stein's corpse. The older Thompson sister looked at the group and shook her head grimly.

"Yamato was ready for it…" she said. "His adaptability made Stein's defenses useless. Yamato took his soul as the last one he needed for the portal to bring Vergil back…"

The hunter looked at his weapons, who looked at each other with sadness. Stein was a man who had just started to build a family; Dante was reminded of Nero, whom Yamato had killed shortly after his wedding, from what he'd heard. Yamato seemed keen on destroying families just to bring back Vergil, didn't he?

Dante's expression darkened and he called all of his weapons.

"Time to go to work, guys," he growled.

* * *

**tbh I'm surprised people haven't reacted to Frankie's death in the previous chapter xDDD maybe y'all stopped reading a long time ago? ;w; well, at least the chapter's up thanks to Klaus finally regaining motivation~ [motivation intensifies] rip Stein tho T-T**

_**~Humbert**_

**Why, thanks, brother. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter; the series is coming to a close soon and I hope you're here when it happens! Will Dante take out his brother? Will Vergil decide power is not all it's cracked up to be? What the hell is Black Star doing, having a heroic BSoD right now? All these questions and any you might have (leave them as reviews if you want) will be answered by the end of the series!**

**Also, I still remember someone saying Ebony and Ivory's crush on Black Star made no sense; it was more of a physical attraction, though they never actually hooked up. Carnal desires rarely make sense.**

_**-Klaus**_


	26. SShowtime!

Azusa hadn't been so afraid in her life, and she'd faced Witches before. It was taking all of her current Meister's skills just to evade Vergil, who seemed not to be breaking a sweat in his approach.

"Arkham's daughter, aren't you?" asked Vergil, recognizing her eyes once he got a good look at them. "How you've grown."

"Shut up!" yelled Lady, dropping a few flash bangs while evading another swing of Yamato. Vergil noticed it and swiped his sword's scabbard to return them to the dark-haired woman. The huntress screamed when they detonated and burned part of her leg and arm, and she fell a few feet away. She stood up, ignoring the searing pain in her leg and being grateful that Trish wasn't around to remind her to wear long pants. She grabbed her pistols and started firing around Vergil, though not directly at him. Vergil lazily walked forward, Yamato in hand, and seemed ready to terminate her.

"You've been a pain in my side since your father neglected to finish you when I told him to," commented the purple-clad man. "Though I hear you finished him off."

"I'm pretty sure you met him back in Hell," countered Lady, pulling out her shotgun and firing once at Vergil. He quickly pulled out Yamato and deflected all the shotgun pellets in a flash, though that was enough for Lady to retreat once more. The woman knew she couldn't keep running forever; if Dante was as similar to Vergil as the former often stated, then the latter's stamina totally outmatched hers. "Where the devil are you, Dante…?" she muttered to herself.

* * *

"Beo, Edge, take Stein and the kids someplace safe," ordered Dante, getting ready. "Nevan, Agni, and Rudra will join you."

"But all this sand will get in my shoes!" complained Agni, pointing at his orange sneakers.

"Mine too! I don't like sand!" whined Rudra, crossing his arms. "It's coarse and rough and it gets—"

"Oh, shut up," reprimanded Nevan. "It's gonna get in my dress, but you don't hear me complaining out loud."

"How about we do this quickly?" suggested Beowulf, picking up Stein's body. "We need to hurry."

"If you hurry, you'll get to join in on the fun!" said Dante, though his face showed that he wasn't going to have any fun. The rest of the weapons surrounded Dante, and he equipped them all in an instant. He nodded at Kid and Maka, mounted his bike, and sped off into the city.

"Now that I think about it, I think it would've been easier to take us with him on his bike…" muttered Maka with a flat expression.

"I don't think we all fit, though," answered Kid, looking at Black Star and Tsubaki, both of which were crying. "Though we should leave them alone…"

"I hate seeing them like that…" answered the pigtailed Meister, directing her gaze at her friends. She was relieved to see them alive and well, but she noticed Black Star felt the weight of his actions crushing down on him. Maka turned back to Kid and said, "Should we tell him about what happened?"

"I'm sure Tsubaki is telling him," answered the Shinigami, starting to walk after Dante's remaining weapons, who were a few meters ahead already. "We should tell them to slow down; they'll leave them behind…"

Maka had caught up with Kid quickly and replied, "I'm sure they know where we're headed… What should we tell Marie, though…?"

Meanwhile, Tsubaki was holding Black Star tightly, sobbing.

"You can't, Black Star! Not without me!" she said desperately.

"I don't deserve you… Not after all I've done to you… I'm sorry…" said Black Star softly. "I need to go…"

"No! You can't go! We can work this out…"

"I can't let myself be controlled again. I can't be with anyone until I get stronger…" Black Star started crying. "I'm never strong when it matters, goddammit!"

"Black Star…"

* * *

"I feel like some soap opera bullshit is goin' on right now…" muttered Rebellion while Dante drove madly through Death City, quickly approaching his brother. "Don't you agree?"

"You say the weirdest things sometimes, Reb," replied Ebony.

"Though the usual 'brothers fighting' thing has been used often in many novels and stories," commented Artemis.

"There are quite a few tropes for it, actually," added Lucifer, "such as 'Cain and Abel', 'Sibling Rivalry'—"

Cerberus barked loudly, and the rest of the weapons quieted down instantly. Dante had managed to drive onto a rooftop where he could see Vergil retreating from a rocket being fired by Lady's Kalina Ann.

"I've a lock on!" announced Artemis and Lucifer in unison once they did.

Dante's scowl changed into a confident smirk as he drove off the rooftop he was on.

"It's showtime!" he said, leaping from the bike in midair and grabbing Rebellion.

Vergil looked to his left and saw the motorcycle approaching at extreme speeds. He vanished from the spot and appeared a few feet above, dodging the crashing vehicle and ready to receive Dante's incoming attack. Both Rebellion and Yamato clashed a few times in the next three seconds, and Sparda's sons landed facing each other. Vergil's red eyes narrowed.

"What're you doing here?" asked he.

"Well, I was on a job here," replied his younger twin. "But I'm glad you finally showed up to visit!"

"As if I'd ever want to see you…" snapped Vergil, squinting menacingly.

"Now that's just cold, big bro…" Dante pouted teasingly, though he didn't lower his guard. "Here I thought you'd wanna visit your family before keeping on with your quest for power."

"If I did," answered the gray-skinned devil, "it'd be to eliminate my only obstacle."

"Is that all I am to you?" asked Dante, gripping his sword tighter and running his wavelength through it. "What about that one time I saved your punk ass from Mundus?"

"I admit it was the only way to escape his grip," said his brother, imitating the red-clad hunter, "but it still changes nothing."

"You got that right," finished Dante before both brothers rushed at each other.

Both swords clashed while the brothers approached each other at inhuman speeds. Vergil and Dante fought with a vigor that hadn't been seen in decades. Yamato and Rebellion emitted sparks wherever their edges clanged, and the force of their encounters was forcing both of their Meisters back. Sensing an opportunity, Dante pulled out Cerberus and sent a wave of ice forwards. Vergil dashed backwards and, in a flash, retreated Yamato back to his sheath to release a dozen slashes towards where Dante was, but the red-clad hunter wasn't there. The younger twin appeared over Vergil and pulled out Ebony and Ivory to unleash a rainstorm of bullets. Vergil pulled out Yamato again to block all the incoming bullets, but he was struck by another that was sent by Lady and Azusa.

"I see you can't handle me yourself, and you're resorting to use help," uttered Vergil after groaning in pain from the bullet.

"Hey, I'm not an ungrateful ass like you," snapped Dante, pulling out one of Lucifer's blades while aiming a gloved punch at his brother's face. "But I can handle you myself! Lady, stand back!" Vergil blocked the punch, but Dante swiftly impaled him with the red blade with a smile, adding, "I'm ready to start having fun."

"Oh, if it's fun you want…" replied the older brother, flipping his snarl into a red-eyed grin. He shoved his brother off of himself and summoned a set of Summoned Swords that aimed at Dante.

The Summoned Swords rushed at their target, who tried to evade them; Vergil teleported to behind his brother and took Rebellion, sending a rush of his wavelength through both the blade and his brother. He threw the claymore at its Meister once it started counterattacking his wavelength, sending another set of the cyan blades at them to stall. The purple-clad demon appeared over Dante and came crashing down at him with Yamato's blunt side. He then sent another Judgment Cut at him before quickly transforming into Devil Trigger, but that was the opening Dante needed.

Smirking, Dante quickly recovered from the combo and dashed backwards, evading the last attack by a hair. He pulled out Artemis and fired a dozen or so pink laser orbs that floated in midair and resonated his soul with his weapons' to enter the Quicksilver Style, since Beowulf wasn't there to do it for him. Vergil and everything else slowed down, and Dante grabbed Rebellion to launch his brother in a drive-like swing. The physics were slowed down as well, so Vergil started to rise slowly while Dante started to stick multiple of Lucifer's blades into him from different angles. Dante pulled out his twin pistols as the first pink laser made its way to its purple-wearing target and started firing away, finishing the resonance.

Vergil started to yell in pain, receiving the effects of the attack all at once and in real time.

* * *

Spirit's tears flowed down his face as he walked with the rest of the group. He'd never felt so useless before, but he hadn't expected to be knocked out and thrown away by Yamato. It had taken him at least ten minutes to return to the fight, but by then it was too late; Vergil had returned and Stein was dead. His pupils, his daughter's friends, weren't unharmed, and he felt responsible for all of it. He was helping Maka walk, careful not to touch her broken arm, but he was having a hard time not bawling.

"Papa…" said the pigtailed girl, looking up at him. "What're we gonna do…?"

The redheaded man sniffled and looked at his daughter. "I dunno, sweetheart… but we have to finish this."

"Spirit, honey," intervened Nevan, "in your current state, all you'll be able to finish is yourselves. Let Dante do the work from now on."

"He just killed my best friend! I can't just—"

"Yes, you can," said Beowulf, interrupting him, "and you will. There's no Meister here capable of handling Vergil; not even Kid thinks he's able to take him on."

"I'm in no condition to keep battling. If I join the fight, I'll be a hindrance to Dante," muttered Kid grimly. He clenched his fist in anger. "I've never expected an opponent as powerful as he; I should've been prepared…"

Force Edge was about to comment something when he noticed a faint silhouette whooshing past the group. Unfortunately, the remnants of the sandstorm made it impossible for him to determine who it was. Kid, however, could tell because of his Soul Perception, and his eyes widened in surprise. He suddenly felt a rush of hope.

* * *

Lady had seen firsthand how messy Dante and Vergil's battles tended to get, so she had moved away from the battle, aiding Dante whenever he fired from his guns so he wouldn't chastise her for assisting. Dante wasn't stupid, though, and she knew he'd notice, but she really wanted to kick Vergil's ass for making her ditch a job to help Dante.

Dante was parrying most of Vergil's attacks with Cerberus, which was arguably the weapon he could attack the fastest with, and was expecting another opening to appear soon, but Vergil seemed to have tightened his defenses. The hunter took a step back and surrounded himself in a thick sphere of ice, needing the few seconds' respite it would provide.

"You getting tired, Dante?" asked Rebellion.

"Not really," replied the white-haired man, "but we can't penetrate his defense like this. Any suggestions?"

"Hard reads?" said Lucifer. "You know how Vergil loves to stay concentrated; I think I could spot his new pattern."

"I'll keep track of him," said Artemis. "We need to make sure he opens up first."

Cerberus barked twice, and Ebony replied to it with "I know we don't have much time left in here, pooch! You have any suggestions?"

"This is some damn thick ice, if it's held out for so long, though," commented Ivory. "Maybe we could wall him off to restrict his movement?"

"Whatever the plan is," intervened Gilgamesh, "we better make it fast. This ice won't hold on for much longer!"

Dante clapped his hands, surrounding himself if many of Lucifer's blades, all of which were glowing menacingly. He teleported out of the ice sphere in the exact moment Vergil ran through it with Yamato slashing it open, and the blades exploded all at once, causing Vergil to stop for an instant. The younger twin grabbed his sword and dashed at the older twin, stabbing multiple times before launching him up again. Once in the air, Dante started to alternate between slashing with Rebellion and sticking another of Lucifer's blades into his brother's chest. Vergil picked up on the pattern quickly and tried to counterattack, but Dante quickly bounced around the air to evade him and reappeared to hammer him down with his gloved fists. The red-clad brother threw a rose up into the air before landing, but Vergil didn't bother to notice, having recovered from the impact and attacking.

Dante started blocking the first few attacks with Gilgamesh before dashing away from the next and firing a bullet into the sky with Ebony. The purple-clad brother came in to attack again, but Dante quickly pulled out the cyan nunchucks and parried every incoming attack until releasing his stored energy in a single palm strike that sent Dante forwards and Vergil upwards. Dante quickly pulled out a set of Lucifer's blades and placed himself underneath Vergil, clapping his hands to set the blades to detonate. He appeared a few meters away, charging an attack with Gilgamesh.

Vergil felt himself falling.

"He's gotten a lot better than when I last fought him," he muttered as he accelerated towards the glowing blades. He was still too stunned by the combo to move.

"He's gonna finish with a potent attack, Vergil," announced Yamato, noticing Dante's stance. "He planned for all of this!"

"Of course he has; he's had quite a bit of practice." Vergil closed his eyes, bracing himself for the pain of the Real Impact that he knew was coming. "Get ready to resonate our souls."

"Yes, Master."

Vergil's body received the damage from the exploding blades and bounced exactly to where Dante wanted it to, and the younger half-devil met his brother with an uppercut as both twins entered their respective Devil Trigger states simultaneously. Both of Sparda's sons landed at the same time, but Vergil was readier to continue, despite the heavy damage he'd just received. He quickly appeared underneath Dante and launched him up to start his own combo. While his weaponry wasn't as varied as Dante's, it was just as effective.

He quickly rose up while slashing at his brother before releasing a potent Judgment Slice at him and bringing him back down with a Summoned Sword in his hand, which he then threw to hold him in place. Vergil then appeared behind Dante and started slashing away in a mad frenzy.

While he slashed, Vergil said, "You know what the main difference between us is, Dante?" He surrounded his brother in Summoned Swords that all went through the red-clad hunter and launched him as he took a stance. "You're stylish, but never efficient." Vergil, having gathered enough energy, disappeared, leaving countless afterimages in the wake of his Dimensional Slash. All the slashes he made in the half second he was gone held Dante in the air while Vergil reappeared, slowly returning Yamato to his scabbard. When the katana's blade was fully hidden, the slashes took their damage toll on Dante, making him fall to the ground, bleeding heavily.

"So," said Dante, coughing and standing up again only to fall to one knee, "you never told me what you were gonna do with all that power."

Vergil knew that his brother wouldn't be able to fight for a few minutes, so he glared at him, entertaining the idea of being merciful.

"I met a kid here that wanted power, just like you." Dante spit some more blood and stared at his brother. "He sounded like you, you know. He wanted all the power. But he wanted it to protect his friends and defeat his enemies. 'Without strength, you cannot protect anything,' is that what you said? Well, this kid had something to protect…"

"What're you implying, brother?" said Vergil, squinting at the tone Dante was taking.

"You've killed so many people that had something to protect, to gain power… What do you have to protect with that?!"

"You wouldn't—!" Vergil placed his hand on his weapon, ready to draw it.

"You're just tearing families apart to avenge ours! You've become what made you start this twisted journey, Vergil!" Noticing the glint of Yamato's blade being drawn, Dante hurried up. "You killed a father who was going to have a child, in Stein! You killed a devil kid that was starting to form a family back in Fortuna, with Nero!"

Vergil froze. His eyes widened. "What does that mean?" he whispered hoarsely. "Why did you say that name?"

"You're a demon not unlike those that killed mom! You won't protect anything that way!" Dante yelled. He didn't notice Vergil's hand trembling.

Vergil remained still. "How do you know about Fortuna? Who's this 'devil kid' Nero you're talking about…? Why did you say that name…?"

Dante's eyes widened as well. He added one and one and got two. "Oh, fuck me in the ass…" he muttered almost inaudibly.

The rose Dante had thrown into the air finally crashed down on Vergil, launching him up. Dante looked at his brother rise into the air, but he knew that Vergil had been recovering for much longer than he had, so he didn't keep on attacking.

Someone else, however, did.

"BLACK STAR BIG WAVE!"

* * *

**Sorry I took this long to update the fic; I had writer's block and it was a pain to get out of. I know, that doesn't forgive the cliffhanger, but at least this is the penultimate chapter... right?**

**Also, in case you're wondering why I brought up Spirit after all this time, it's because I completely forgot that he was in the battle. Cheap excuses, you'll say, but that's what happened. Still, I'm glad it's almost over. I can't wait until I don't have to worry about writing this story, even though I enjoy doing it.**

_**-Klaus**_

**wow I can't believe that ending -.- _VERY_ original bro**

**still! any and all opinions/ideas/whatever you can leave it as a review (or a PM, I don't mind~)! :D**

**also, sorry I haven't updated Loaded High Notes; I lost the file of the latest chapter when my computer restarted for updates (SCREW YOU UPDATES!)**

_**~Humbert**_


End file.
